Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald, said today’s Federal Court decision to overturn the regulator’s approval for a significant offshore natural gas project in Western Australia, was another example of Labor’s funding for green activists undermining Australia’s future prosperity.
Senator McDonald said that this Government’s failure to fix their broken offshore approvals process for natural gas, combined with their deliberate decision to fund green lawfare, has made their anti-gas agenda clear for all to see.
“The Government has sat on its hands and done nothing to resolve a known issue which has ground approvals for offshore development to a halt,” she said.
“The Prime Minister needs to apologise to the people of Western Australia for impeding investment and jobs in the west.
“Commonwealth funding for legal action to pick apart the Government’s own broken approvals regulations is a farce that will impact gas production and supply for both domestic manufacturing and energy firming as well as our international partners’ energy security.
“The Government claims it continues to support the gas industry, yet the millions it has spent on the Environmental Defenders Office will lead to more environmental legal activism, destabilising the industry and increasing Australia’s sovereign risk.
“The Government needs to come clean about how much taxpayer money has gone towards torpedoing the future production of Australian natural gas.”