Coalition infighting over Great Artesian Basin carbon capture proposal

Plans to store carbon dioxide waste in the Great Artesian Basin have exposed a major rift within the Coalition.

Sussan Ley and David Littleproud have mixed views over the Glencore proposal. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Glencore’s carbon capture and storage project in the Great ­Artesian Basin has exposed a major rift within the Coalition amid claims of “political opportunism” from the mining giant.

The Queensland environment department’s decision on the project is not due until the end of the month but Premier Steven Miles pre-empted the outcome this week, saying it did not “sound like a good idea” and was “unlikely” to gain environmental approval.

Glencore, whose subsidiary Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation intends to store carbon dioxide captured at the Millmerran coal fired power station west of Brisbane and store it in the Great Artesian Basin, hit back on Thursday, accusing Mr Miles of breaching due process.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has also raised concerns about the proposal.

“Our project should be judged on the science, not misinformation or political opportunism,” a Glencore spokesman said.

The project faces a legal challenge in the Federal Court by lobby group AgForce, which is trying to force the government to consider the project under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The issue has caused friction between the second- and third- highest ranking members of the Coalition after Nationals leader David Littleproud accused Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley of “(getting) it wrong” as environment minister in 2022 when her department deemed the Glencore project did not need federal assessment.

The Australian understands there is increasing tension ­between Mr Littleproud and Liberal frontbenchers, which first emerged during a push by the Nationals leader to divest supermarket chains.

Coalition frontbenchers are displeased with Mr Littleproud’s public shaming of Ms Ley, who was acting on department advice in a government the country party leader served as agriculture minister.

Ms Ley said Mr Littleproud’s comments were a “misconstruction” of what happened.

“The 2022 decision in question was made by an Environment Department delegate, who having reviewed the project, ­determined it wasn’t a ‘controllable action’,” Ms Ley said.

“This means there was no legal jurisdiction under the EPBC Act to stop this project and no interpretation of the act could have led to any other decision.

“The decision made by the Environment Department did not mean that I, or anyone else in our Coalition Government, supported this project. The suggestion that I personally took a decision to let the project proceed is wrong.”

Some Nationals MPs, particularly Mr Littleproud and Flynn MP Colin Boyce, have been particularly opposed to the CTSCo project.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been more circumspect, and on Wednesday said he would not comment on the project until after the court case.

But Mr Littleproud previously supported the CTSCo’s proposal and, while in government, spruiked a $5m investment in the project.

In a 2021 Facebook post, Mr Littleproud said the investment would create jobs, reduce emissions and improve the efficiency of coal. Asked on Friday about his previous support, Mr Littleproud said he had changed his mind ­because the science behind it was “not robust enough”.

“The former Coalition government provided a grant to undertake work to establish the appropriateness of carbon capture storage (CCS) near Moonie in my electorate, which I strongly supported,” he said.

“However it has become evident from that grant that the science to support this project continuing is not robust enough in its progression, but I continue to believe in CCS in Australia where it can be safely done.”

Farmers fear dumping carbon dioxide within the basin, which covers 22 per cent of the continent and is an essential water source for towns, farmers and ­industries, will cause irreparable harm. Glencore says the project is supported by compre­hensive scientific data and reviews.