By Holly Thompson and Hamish Hastie
Environment groups claim a tabled report on Western Australia’s gas export policies has been significantly altered from a version recently leaked to the public in a bid to portray a “more sympathetic” view towards the government’s plans.
The West Australian government commissioned a $400,000 report into decarbonisation plans from Deloitte, then sat on its findings for more than nine months.
Greens MLC Sophie McNeill.Credit: Mark Naglazas
The report, Assessing the decarbonisation role of Western Australia’s LNG exports to Asia, was tabled in parliament on Tuesday afternoon after the draft version – meant to be a confidential cabinet document – had been leaked.
The leaked report warned that an abundant gas supply would crowd out renewables investment in Asia but ultimately concluded that gas would play an important role in the energy transition.
But there were notable changes between the leaked report and what was tabled on Tuesday.
The tabled report begins with a five-page executive summary not previously included, of which the last two pages of contain new charts, graphics and text that are “much more aligned with government messages than the original”, according to the WA Greens.
“Should WA gas cease to be available, the medium-term impact would be increased regional energy pricing and a higher global emissions outcome,” the summary reads.
“USA and Russian LNG would likely replace WA gas in the market with coal being retained for longer or added to the system.
“Global emissions would increase as higher carbon supplies enter the market from the US to replace Australian gas and as a portion of LNG end use is displaced by coal.”
WA Greens fossil fuels and climate change spokeswoman Sophie McNeill said alterations to the report showed the government was trying to manufacture evidence, at taxpayers’ expense, to support the gas industry.
McNeill described it as “deeply embarrassing”.
“There are graphs removed in the second version, headlines changed, all done to downplay the impact that gas is having on our climate,” she said.
“The government has doctored the science in this report to support the claim that WA gas is helping Asia to decarbonise; a lie they’ve been spinning on behalf of the gas industry for the last eight years.
“The amount of evidence that has been shifted, altered or removed entirely between when Deloitte finished their draft in December 2024 and the WA Labor cabinet approved this version is absolutely astonishing.”
McNeill said a key scenario in the draft showed gas demand in Asia would need to peak by 2030 to achieve net zero by 2050.
That has been altered in the final version to claim that demand could continue to increase until almost 2040.
“The report now claims gas demand will increase by 90 per cent in Asia by 2050 under current policies, assuming new gas will more than double to meet that demand. In the draft this increase was only 45 per cent,” she said.
“References throughout the draft report that show gas demand tapering off in the 2030s have been changed to the early 2040s in the final version.
“The final pages of the report have been substantially rewritten to soften the language around risk and now read more like a government press release than a scientific report with any credibility.
“The fact that they have tried to doctor the evidence in a report that was paid for by the taxpayer is absolutely shameful.”
Conservation Council WA executive director Matt Roberts said the government had “spent $400,000 of taxpayers’ money on this report, tried to bury it, and now we see different findings once it’s now been finally released”.
“All the expert advice – and simple common sense – suggest you don’t decarbonise the world by burning more fossil fuels,” he said.
“But we can see that Labor have massaged the numbers here to support the narrative fed to them by the gas industry.”
Roberts said parliament should hold an inquiry into the report.
“It’s become a total farce.”
A state government spokesperson said Deloitte’s report was commissioned for the cabinet and was drafted and revised independently of the government.
“Both the initial draft and the final version are clear that Western Australia’s gas exports can support Asia’s energy transition,” they said.
“As previously stated, the government’s Made in WA plan clearly sets out its vision for the state to become a renewable energy superpower.
“This is being achieved through measures like the State Development Bill, which will allow the government to accelerate projects needed to decarbonise WA and its trading partners.”
Education Minister Sabine Winton was questioned on the report at a press conference on Wednesday morning, and said she would not go into detail, but the government did not “shy away from difficult conversations”.
Winton could not provide a reason as to why the report, dated March 16, was only tabled on Tuesday and would not be drawn on the timing, given it occurred a week after the draft was leaked.
“We’ve got a significant legislative timetable. We have significant reform agendas in lots of portfolios. I’m not going to validate that scepticism,” she said.
Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said he was unsure of the specifics, but would hope “the full conclusion and analysis is presented as it was given during that report”.
“You wouldn’t think anybody would be changing reports to sell a particular narrative. You would hope very much that doesn’t happen,” he said.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific head of climate and energy Joe Rafalowicz said WA had an important role to play in decarbonising the globe – but that was because of renewable energy and green export opportunities, not gas exports.
“Gas is a polluting fossil fuel – whether we burn it here or burn it overseas, it will always lead to more global pollution and severe climate impacts,” he said.
“Any rhetoric propagated by the gas industry that suggests otherwise, is a fundamental misrepresentation of the facts.”
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