Activists have taken their protest against Woodside’s controversial Burrup Hub gas expansion into state government offices.
More than a dozen campaigners stormed the assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson’s Fremantle office on Tuesday.
Disrupt Burrup Hub and Voices for Climate campaigners want the Cook government to disallow a $50bn proposal to extend North West Shelf Liquified Natural Gas operations by up to 50 years.
The North West site, located near the Port of Dampier, is one of the largest LNG projects in the world and has provided energy to customers globally since the 1980s.
But opponents argue it will emit more than 6 billion tonnes of carbon across its lifetime and impact global climate through generations.
The Conversation Council of WA says the proposal will drill 50 wells into pristine Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast, impacting endangered marine life and put local communities at risk from industrial pollution.
Burrup traditional owners, led by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, have launched a Federal Court challenge in Sydney last month about the proposal.
A Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner says that approving the extension will “damage the climate, destroy nature, desecrate sacred heritage and rip off Australians.”
“Any tiny inch of climate credibility the Federal Labor Party had left will be destroyed if this project is approved in any shape or form – for any period of time,” she said.
“For the sake of our future and our planet, [this proposal] simply must not proceed.”
Australia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement which commits to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 – the approval of the North West Shelf project would result in the site continuing emissions until 2070.
A Conservation Council report found that the yearly pollution from the project would be equivalent to the yearly national emissions of Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Bolivia combined.
Federal Environmental Minister Murray Watts arrived in Perth earlier this week to discuss the proposal, telling the ABC he intends to approve or reject it before May 31.
A spokesperson for Woodside says that it is essential that the proposal is dealt with promptly by Mr Watt.
“Timely approval of the North West Shelf extension is critical to ensure this nationally significant asset continues to support thousands of direct and indirect jobs, provide billions of dollars in taxes and royalties and deliver future gas supply to West Australian businesses and homes,” the spokesperson said.
The decision will be the first major move for the new environmental minister since assuming the position last week.
