The Australian Conservation Foundation has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court to challenge Environment Minister Murray Watt's approval of Woodside's North West Shelf gas hub extension.
ACF and its legal team will argue:
- The Minister wrongly considered the economic benefits of the unapproved Browse gas project in his Statement of Reasons for approving the NW Shelf extension.
- The approval left out critical details. The Minister gave the green light without knowing the details of the gas the project will process and what pollution it will cause.
- The Minister failed to consider the physical effects of climate change as an 'impact'.
"We're challenging the lawfulness of Minister Watt's approval of this gas hub extension, which is the centrepiece of the most polluting gas project in the Southern Hemisphere," said ACF's General Counsel Adam Beeson.
"Research released by ACF in 2024 shows lifetime emissions from the NW Shelf gas hub would be more than 13 times Australia's annual emissions from all sources.
"Many Australians were shocked and outraged when Minister Watt gave final approval to the proposed extension of the gas hub on 12 September, 2025.
"Under the terms of the approval, Woodside's gas hub on the Burrup Peninsula can keep polluting until 2070, unleashing 4 billion tonnes of climate pollution. This is unacceptable. We are already living in the era of climate consequences and our window to avoid the worse to come is rapidly closing.
"A child born today will be 45 in 2070. We will argue the Minister was wrong to cite the claimed economic benefits of the proposed Browse gas project - which Woodside hopes will feed the gas hub, but which has not been approved - when he approved the North West Shelf extension.
"We will also argue that the Minister failed to consider the physical effects of climate change as an 'impact'.
"If successful, this case could reshape how climate impacts are assessed in Australia."
ACF will be represented in court by Environmental Justice Australia and by barristers Angus Scott SC, Hannah Douglas and Josh Underwood.
MEDIA CONFERENCE
When: Monday 13 October, 10am
Where: Outside the Federal Court, cnr William and Latrobe Streets, Melbourne
