Labor accused of violating international law with Northern Endeavour decision

Resources Minister Madeleine King denies a union and local business claim that Australia is breaking an international treaty by sending the oil platform to Denmark for decommissioning.

The Northern Endeavour will be recycled in Denmark in a decision that breaches international law, industry and unions argue. Picture: Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

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The Albanese government’s decision to transport a disused, public-owned oil platform laden with toxic waste and radioactive material more than 13,000km to a Danish shipyard for recycling violates international law, local industry and unions claim.

Resources Minister Madeleine King is progressing plans to decommission the Northern Endeavour – the largest-ever oil infrastructure clean-up in the nation’s history – in Denmark, sidelining Australian businesses that say the work could be done here and generate hundreds of jobs.

Critics say Labor’s directive will put Australia in breach of its obligations under the Basel Convention, an international treaty that bars signatories from exporting hazardous waste if they are capable of managing it in an environmentally sound manner within their own borders.

Resources Minister Madeleine King stands accused of breaching international law. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

That is because the Northern Endeavour, a 43,000-tonne oil platform moored 550km northeast of Darwin, is teeming with toxic substances including mercury, hydrocarbons and naturally occurring radioactive material, which industry claims can be processed locally.

The vessel ceased production six years ago and fell into the federal government’s ownership in 2020 after its former proprietor, Northern Oil and Gas Australia, collapsed into liquidation, resulting in a $1bn clean-up bill and an industry levy to pay for it.

The Australian last week revealed that a lucrative government contract to recycle the vessel had been awarded to US ship-breaking firm Modern American Recycling Services, with scrapping to occur at its European facility in Frederikshavn.

While Ms King maintains the job cannot be done locally, that claim has been flatly rejected by industry and unions alike – prompting the Maritime Union of Australia to declare that sending the Northern Endeavour overseas made a “mockery” of Australia’s obligations under the Basel Convention.

“If the department truly believes that no Australian yard is capable of dismantling the Northern Endeavour, then it should have no issue publishing the evidence,” MUA assistant national secretary Thomas Mayo told The Australian.

“If there’s nothing to hide, then the full statement of reasons behind the decision to send this work to Europe should be made public.”

Pressed if the decision to send the Northern Endeavour to Denmark was compliant with the Basel Convention, a spokesman for Ms King said it was – but gave no detail on how it had reached that judgment.

“The Department of Industry, Science and Resources is satisfied that the MARS proposal will comply with international conventions and agreements, including the Basel Convention on the control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal,” he said.

MUA assistant national secretary Thomas Mayo.

United Salvage managing director Drew Shannon. Picture: Jane Dempster

Asked whether the department had assessed the capacity of domestic facilities to carry out the recycling process in an environmentally sound manner, and whether that would be made public, the spokesman did not say.

To lawfully send the Northern Endeavour to Denmark, the government must also secure a hazardous waste export permit – requiring an assessment of whether the waste can be processed within Australia.

That decision rests with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, and Environment Minister Murray Watt, who are yet to issue the permit.

United Salvage managing director Drew Shannon – whose company lost out to MARS for the recycling contract – called on Senator Watt to reject the export permit, arguing Australia has the domestic shipbreaking capability to handle the job.

“The Environment Minister has the power in the regulations to prefer an Australian solution over a foreign option,” Mr Shannon said. “The waste itself can be dealt with in this country … We have the ability in this country to properly receive, contain and store that waste or recycle it.”

Industry insiders voiced concern that the permit could still be granted despite viable local bids, arguing it would expose a double standard as businesses were typically required to prove hazardous material couldn’t be processed domestically before exporting it.