In brief
- WA Premier Roger Cook’s comments about a potential return of fracking have drawn backlash from conservationists.
- Cook said that if a planned gas project by giant Woodside failed to move ahead, it could leave the state short of gas.
Discussions about potential gas fracking in a pristine wilderness area to boost energy supplies have ignited fresh outrage among conservationists.
Western Australia Premier Roger Cook suggested that the state might have to allow fracking in the Kimberley region if Woodside Energy’s $30 billion offshore Browse project doesn’t proceed, potentially leaving the state with a gas shortage.
In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Cook highlighted a significant gap in Western Australia’s future energy needs, noting that renewable energy sources alone wouldn’t suffice to meet the demands of both households and heavy industries.
These remarks prompted a wave of backlash from environmental advocates, with approximately 150 demonstrators gathering at the WA parliament on Friday to voice their concerns.
Geoff Brice from Greenpeace accused the WA gas industry of creating an artificial gas shortage by failing to supply the mandated 15% of domestic gas to the local market.
“This is simply unacceptable,” Brice stated, “and it serves as a pretext for justifying extensive new gas developments in areas like the Kimberley and Scott Reef.”
The Conservation Council said WA was not facing a gas supply problem, but it did have a gas export problem.
Playing off Woodside’s Browse project against fracking in the Kimberley as an either-or scenario was disingenuous and misleading, the council said.
“Gas companies are meant to reserve 15 per cent of their gas for the domestic market, but deliver little more than half of that,” executive director Matt Roberts said.
He also raised concerns about the impact Cook’s remarks could have on the WA environmental watchdog.
“To have this public pressure mounted and political pressure mounted on the (WA Environmental Protection Authority), I find that unacceptable,” he said.
Environs Kimberley said Cook’s comments were “outrageous”.
“To think about drilling 50 oil and gas wells around Scott Reef and if that does not happen to frack the Kimberley, we cannot believe that the premier has said this,” executive director Martin Pritchard said.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy said WA would need significantly more gas in the coming years.
“If WA wants to maintain its standard of living … and Australia wants to be relevant and safe in a more contested world, then it must develop its natural resources,” chief executive Aaron Morey said.
“As we’ve learned through this period of the current global energy crunch, it is our energy resources that have put us in a position to ensure we attract the fuel and other resources we need to stay secure.”
The WA domestic gas reservation scheme was a successful policy despite the differences of opinion about how much should be supplied, he said.
The WA Opposition energy spokesperson Steve Thomas said a more pressing issue was the capacity of the Dampier to Bunbury gas pipeline.
“Fracking Kimberley gas will be of little value if you can’t get more of it to Perth where it is needed,” he said.
Conservation groups are challenging the federal environment minister’s North West Shelf Project extension approval in the Federal Court.
Environmental groups have also lodged a judicial review challenge in the Supreme Court.
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