Conditions the Albanese government has applied to the extension of Woodside's NW Shelf gas hub on WA's Burrup Peninsula cannot curb the climate damage that will flow from giving approval to the largest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere.
"The conditions can't alter the fact the Albanese government is responsible for granting one of the world's largest gas approvals while the planet is engulfed in a climate crisis," said Australian Conservation Foundation climate program manager Gavan McFadzean.
"The Albanese government's progress on renewables at home is wiped out by its continued support to expand Australia's gas exports. No matter where Australian gas is burned, it puts people and nature in harm's way by fuelling more extreme weather.
"The safeguard mechanism already requires major emitters to be net zero by 2050. This is not a new condition.
"Research released by ACF in 2024 shows lifetime emissions from the NW Shelf project would be more than 13 times Australia's annual emissions from all sources.
"Climate Analytics says the emissions from this plant out to 2070 will likely cause the loss of around 11,000 km² of Arctic Sea ice and US $176bn in extreme heat-related damages globally.
"It beggars belief that the Albanese government would choose to detonate this carbon bomb.
"With this decision, Prime Minister Albanese has betrayed Australians who voted for him, believing he was serious about acting on climate change.
"Woodside's proposal to supply gas to the NW Shelf hub from the Browse offshore gas field at Scott Reef must be rejected. At Browse, Woodside plans to drill 50 gas wells close to the unique Scott Reef, introducing the risk of oil spills and direct harm to the endangered pygmy blue whale and Scott Reef green turtle, which exists nowhere else in the world.
"The conditions applied to the NW Shelf project ignore the clear advice of ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites), the body that advises the United Nations on World Heritage nominations, which called for an end to acidic emissions on the Burrup Peninsula because of damage to the ancient rock art at Murujuga.
"The WA government's own monitoring program shows five of the monitored rock art sites – the ones closest to the industrial facilities on the Burrup Peninsula – experience pollution levels that are above acceptable levels and are damaging the petroglyphs.
"ACF and many others will continue to vigorously oppose the expansion of the gas industry, including the exploitation of the Browse climate bomb gas field at Scott Reef."
