Three separate attempts to hold up the decision on Woodside's application to extend the life of their North West Shelf project, have failed ENB can exclusively  reveal.

Requests by Greenpeace, Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) and Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) (representing the Environment Council of Central Queensland) for the project to be re-assessed have been officially refused by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and the new federal minister for the environment Murray Watt.

The Australian Greens' new leader Larissa Waters says this clears the decks for an official approval ahead of the May 31 deadline.

"This was the new Labor government's first big climate test, and Anthony Albanese is lining up to fail it spectacularly - approving Woodside's carbon bomb even faster than Dutton planned to.

"Australia's environment laws are broken, but a rapid-speed approval by Minister Watt indicates he has no intention of fixing them. The coal and gas industry must be rubbing their hands together," said Waters.

Objections lodged

In 2022 Environmental Justice Australia (EJA), representing the Environment Council of Central Queensland, wrote to the former environment minister Tanya Plibersek asking her to consider replacing the 2019 section 75 assessment decision (which proclaimed the North West Shelf expansion application as a controlled action) with a decision that recognises its impact on protected plants, animals and places.

According to a statement from DCCEEW "On 3 November 2022, a delegate determined that the reconsideration request from Environmental Justice Australia met the requirements of the EPBC Act and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 (EPBC Regulations) and was therefore a valid request. A decision package has been prepared for the Minister for the reconsideration request for North West Shelf Project Extension."

Then earlier this year Greenpeace and the CCWA separately wrote to Plibersek, asking that - since new and significant impacts had emerged since the lodging of the original 2019 application, meaning the criteria on which it was judged are now outdated – a new assessment was warranted. 

However, ENB can exclusively confirm that all three requests have been unsuccessful.

In letters from DCCEEW, written on behalf of the new environment minister, Murray Watt, dated 15 May – just two days after his swearing-in – the Greenpeace and CCWA requests have been denied. 

In the letter to Greenpeace seen by ENB, DCCEEW stated Greenpeace's request "does not meet several requirements of a reconsideration request, as set out in section 78A(2) of the EPBC Act and regulation 4AA.01 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000…The department does not consider that the information demonstrates that a change in the potential impacts will likely happen with a high degree of certainty." 

Geoff Bice, the WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, expressed that he is "deeply disappointed" by the decision. 

"The primary purpose of Woodside's North West Shelf extension is to process gas from the Browse gas field underneath Scott Reef — the Minister should be looking at these gas mega projects as a whole, rather than broken into arbitrary pieces. 

"The North West Shelf facility is one of Australia's dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel projects — the decision to refuse Greenpeace's reconsideration request brings Woodside one step closer towards drilling for dirty gas at Scott Reef.  

The CCWA's new executive director, Matt Roberts, was equally disappointed.  

"The Minister declined a meeting with CCWA and Greenpeace – which also lodged a reconsideration request – during his visit this week because these documents were still under review," Roberts said.  

 "The dismissal of this reconsideration gives us grave concern that it paves the way for Minister Watt to make a decision on the North West Shelf extension, despite the fact that he is just 10 days into his new job, and this project will have long-lasting negative impacts for generations to come." 

Roberts said he is now hoping to meet with Watt to discuss the impact projects like the North West Shelf gas extension have on the climate. 

"In WA, more than three-quarters of people say they want stronger nature laws, in spite of a concerted attempt by a vocal minority in big business, sections of our media, and even at times the WA government, to pretend otherwise.   

"In fact, polling conducted before the recent WA election showed that climate action and our environment were both in the top five issues for West Australian voters, behind only cost of living, housing and health. This was particularly so for younger voters," said Roberts.

When asked for a comment Woodside referred ENB to a previous statement which said: "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 Western Australian businesses and homes."