Image from Sky News Australia
AgZero has slammed the decision by Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt giving conditional approval of an extension to the North West Shelf oil and gas project to 2070.
AgZero Chair, and Corrigin farmer, Simon Wallwork said “Western Australian farmers are on the frontline of a changing climate, and are already experiencing the direct impacts of climate change on productivity and profitability.”
“AgZero has advocated a clear position that the externality costs posed to Western Australian agriculture and our rural communities through the extension of this polluting project are completely unacceptable.
“Western Australian farmers are adaptive innovators who are doing an extraordinary job leading the way in maintaining production in the face of the warming, drying and more extreme conditions we have experienced to date.
“Extending the life of fossil fuel projects is a slap in the face to the farmers and rural communities who are already experiencing so many direct impacts.”
Speaking from the sprayer while working on the 2025 cropping program, Mr Wallwork said:
“AgZero sought a meeting with the new Federal Environment Minister during his recent visit to Perth, hoping to ensure that the voices of Western Australian farmers would be able to be heard on this critical issue. Our request to meet with the Minister was denied.
“The conditional approval of this project indicates the full extent to which our Federal Environment laws are broken. The ability of the Federal Minister to conditionally approve this project in the face of so much community concern and with such externality risks to our farming futures clearly shows that Australia’s Environmental laws need to be dramatically improved.
“We look forward to being granted that opportunity to meet with the Federal Environment Minister, and to contributing to a legislative shift in which projects that pose a truly unacceptable risk to our industry are no longer able to be approved.”
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So much for Albo doing the better thing all round for the environment and the planet, was never going to happen and he chose Watt to do just what he's doing, bulldoze his way thru anyone and everyone to keep his bum in a chair.
Albo's only claim for his right to occupy that chair is a far flung fiction long forgotten and a man who lacks any principals whatsoever, unless they suit his agenda, whatever that is.
heather,there seems to be a deafening silence on this site;I hope it's because people are still reeling from this decision.
The donations, and the possibility of cushy lobby jobs after polics, are just too good and big to ignore. Well done LN...oops, Labor.
It's also a slap in the face for First Nations people. There is already massive damage to the rock art at Burrup; this will almost completely destroy the site.
Fuck. You. Albo.
They are always virtuous till AFTER an elections.
The outcome was hardly a surprise, and it does not reflect on a particular political party.
The investment that is already sitting up there, and the prospect of jobs are major factors, and actually closing our alternative power source was going to take more guts than ANY party has.
Coal is still a big part of our life as long as we enjoy air cons, and all the modern power consuming gadgets.
Gas is very handy.
Things will change very gradually, while the climate will move quite a bit faster.
The coalition had already said that they would give an approval and, as we know a decision has been languishing for six years. One way or the other a decision had to be made.
The approval granted is 'conditional' and we have yet to see the nature and extent of these conditions, but we do know that it gives primacy to the protection of rock-art.
This is the only information I have been able to find on the minister's decision :
https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/watt/media-releases/statement-north-west-shelf-gas-processing-project