Greens actions:
Greens Leader Senator Larissa Waters and Senator Steph Hodgins-May will today write to the Climate Minister, Chris Bowen, and the Minister responsible for CSIRO, Tim Ayres, demanding an explanation and a commitment to action after reports emerged overnight of a near-two-decade methane leak from a Santos export hub in Darwin.
The Greens will also write to the auditor general requesting a review of how federal regulators conducted themselves in investigating this leak, so the public better understands why no actions were taken against a politically protected gas corporation.
The Greens will also use the Senate this week to order the production of relevant documents from regulators overseen by federal Ministers.
Context
Explosive documents released under FOI to the Environment Centre NT have revealed that Santos' LNG export hub in Darwin has been leaking methane for nearly 20 years since it was commissioned in 2006.
Multiple federal and territory regulators, including the NTEPA, NT WorkSafe, Clean Energy Regulator, NOPSEMA, and CSIRO all knew about the leak, but failed to require Santos to repair it, nor inform the public about it and its risks.
According to the investigation, Santos and ConocoPhillips are alleged to have intentionally concealed the leak from the public to ensure it wouldn't derail plans for an extension of Darwin LNG or approval for its toxic Barossa project.
Federal regulators and their responsible Ministers
FOI documents reveal that ConocoPhillips notified the Clean Energy Regulator of the leak on 29 May 2020. Minister Bowen is currently responsible for the Clean Energy Regulator.
No action was taken by the CER in response to this notification.
Santos engaged CSIRO to undertake monitoring of the fugitive methane emissions from the leak, but neither the existence of the leak nor the results of the monitoring have ever been made public. Minister Ayres is responsible for CSIRO.
CSIRO should publicly release the results of this monitoring and reveal any financial relationship with Santos.
NOPSEMA was informed about the leak in late 2024. Minister King is responsible for NOPSEMA. Despite awareness of the leak, NOPSEMA gave final approval to Santos' Barossa LNG project in April 2025.
The leak continues in Darwin Harbour today, and there has been no commitment to fix the issue.
As stated by Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Larissa Waters:
"These revelations are very disturbing. I commend the Environment Centre NT for uncovering what is either a spectacular failure of regulators or a deliberate cover up by successive governments to protect a gas corporation's profit margin.
"The responsible Ministers must urgently explain why their regulators knowingly allowed Santos to leak methane, an extremely potent heat-trapping gas that has a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, for almost two decades.
"Ministers Bowen, Ayres and King must also explain if they were aware of what their regulators knew. Their climate credentials are on the line.
"The International Energy Agency has already revealed that Australia is underreporting methane emissions by at least 64% because coal and gas corporations are allowed to guess their methane emissions instead of actually measuring them. The Climate Minister agreed to fix this absurd loophole in negotiations with the Greens in the last parliament, but no progress has occurred. Methane is more than 80 times more damaging to the atmosphere over 20 years than carbon dioxide.
"Furthermore, Minister Bowen must immediately assure the public that Santos will be compelled to repair the leak. Anything less would be unacceptable for the Darwin community and the climate."
As stated by Australian Greens Resources Spokesperson, Senator Steph Hodgins-May:
"This is the latest example of how the government and its agencies are captured by Australia's coal and gas industry. Dangerously potent heat-trapping gases have been leaking for 19 years without consequence.
"CSIRO has financial relationships with the gas industry, and in the past they have failed to disclose these links.
"CSIRO needs to disclose all financial agreements it has with Santos so that the public can understand why our trusted and elite science agency has kept their monitoring results hidden from view."
