1240 WST
Woodside gets full approval for North West Shelf project
Murray Watt has approved Woodside's application to extend the life of its North West Shelf project.
In doing so he has added 48 conditions on the approval to "avoid and mitigate" impact to the Murujuga rock art.
Among the conditions are to reduce certain gas current emissions by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2050.
1242 WST
Murray Watt's statement in full
Following the consideration of rigorous scientific advice, today I have given final approval for the North West Shelf Project Extension, subject to strict conditions.
This is the last procedural step in a lengthy process, following the announcement of my proposed approval in May.
The decision-making scope for this proposal was narrow, relating to the risk of significant impacts on matters protected under federal environmental law—in this case, the World Heritage listed Murujuga rock art, which forms part of Western Australia's Dampier Archipelago.
In making this decision, I have imposed 48 strict conditions that will avoid and mitigate significant impacts to the Murujuga rock art.
The additional conditions I have imposed add to those already set by the Western Australian Government.
This will ensure that this project will be operated in a way that does not cause unacceptable impacts to the Murujuga rock art, in compliance with federal environmental law, including restricting air emissions which otherwise could have accelerated damage.
Specifically, I have imposed conditions that will require a reduction in certain gas emissions below their current levels, in some cases by 60 percent by 2030 with ongoing reductions beyond that
The conditions will also allow for any new science achieved through the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) to be accounted for by requiring the approval holder to comply with any air quality objectives and standards that are derived by the Program.
Under the conditions I have proposed, the proponent will be required to:
- Comply with strict limits on emissions of concern and in some cases continue reducing those emissions levels over the life of the plant.
- Comply with the conditions of the approval by the WA Government to prepare a new Air Quality Management Plan. This requires the proponent to comply with any new air quality objectives or standards that are derived from the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP), ensuring they adhere to the most current science on the impacts to rock art.
- Put in place a robust continuous emissions monitoring system to demonstrate compliance with the strict limits on emissions levels.
- Regularly review and implement industry and Australian best practice emissions reductions technology.
- Manage direct, physical impacts to the rock through the implementation of a Cultural Heritage Management Plan.
- Demonstrate compliance with the conditions requiring emissions monitoring by publishing an annual compliance report including emissions data collected by the monitoring system.
The project will be required to reduce its emissions every year and reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the Albanese Government's strengthened Safeguard Mechanism.
1252 WST
Legal threat issued
In advance of the minister's statement today, it's emerged that yesterday he was officially "put on notice' by lawyers representing the Traditional Owner Raelene Cooper and others, that he would be in breach of international legal obligations as a result of a recent ruling by the International Courts of Justice.
The letter states: "Approval of the Project will, on its face, constitute an internationally wrongful act in clear breach of established international legal principles. It would be clear evidence of a failure by Australia to exercise due diligence in avoiding the exacerbation of climate harms to other nation states, including our direct neighbours in the Pacific."
1259 WST
Woodside responds - their statement in full
Woodside and the North West Shelf Joint Venture welcome the Australian Government's final decision to grant environmental approval for the North West Shelf Project Extension.
Woodside Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Australia Liz Westcott said the final Australian Government approval followed an extensive assessment and appeal process and included rigorous conditions to manage the protection of cultural heritage.
"This final approval provides certainty for the ongoing operation of the North West Shelf Project, so it can continue to provide reliable energy supplies as it has for more than 40 years.
"Over this time, the North West Shelf Project has paid more than A$40 billion in royalties and excise, supported thousands of Australian jobs and contributed well over A$300 million to communities in the Pilbara through social investment initiatives and infrastructure support."
The Australian Government approval includes conditions that require additional monitoring and management of air emissions to protect the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) National Heritage Place.
Woodside remains committed to protecting the Murujuga Cultural Landscape and was a proud supporter of the World Heritage nomination and assessment process.
The North West Shelf Project has supplied more than 6,000 petajoules of domestic gas, powering homes and industry in Western Australia. If used just for household electricity, this is enough to power homes in a city the size of Perth for approximately 175 years.
1303 WST
Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation's statement in full
The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) has welcomed a declaration that prescribes a range of new measures that will provide even greater protection of cultural heritage that exists in proximity to industry on the Burrup Peninsula in the north west of Western Australia.
The provisions, announced by the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon Senator Murray Watt, give specific, detailed and clear guidance on prohibitions and restrictions to preserve Aboriginal sites, objects and places in declared areas within and adjacent to the World Heritage listed Murujuga Cultural Landscape and to protect heritage from injury or desecration.
Further, the declaration, made under section 10 (1) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984, recognises the leadership of MAC and its authority to manage the complex heritage and cultural values that extend across the entire Murujuga Cultural Landscape, both in and outside of the recently inscribed World Heritage boundary.
"As the organisation representing the collective wishes and voices of the Ngarda-Ngarli who have been the traditional custodians of the Murujuga rock art for thousands of years, we are pleased to see the Federal Government's commitment to add a further layer of protection to an area of such great significance to our people," said Mr Peter Hicks, Chair, MAC.
"This extraordinary landscape has been managed and cared for by our ancestors for more than 50,000 years and is a sacred, spiritual and deeply storied place.
"Its importance to the world cannot be understated and this was acknowledged in July when we were able to secure World Heritage status.
"Now, with this declaration, we have an even clearer way forward and we thank the Federal Government for enacting a critical part of Australia's legislative framework to ensure that this sacred place is protected in perpetuity."
1306 WST
Reaction from Australian Energy Producers
The Australian Energy Producers (AEP) has put out a statement to say that it welcomes the approval of the North West Shelf extension, a decision it says will safeguard reliable and affordable gas supply for Western Australians.
AEP CEO Samantha McCulloch said the extension of the North West Shelf project is critical to Western Australia's long-term energy security and economic strength.
"The North West Shelf has been powering Western Australian homes and industry for 40 years, and today's decision will ensure it continues to play a critical role in the state's future energy security and economic prosperity," McCulloch said.
"The project's extension is essential to avoid forecast gas shortfalls from 2030 and ensure reliable and affordable supply for households, businesses and manufacturers."
McCulloch said after six years of state-based approvals and delays, today's decision provides much-needed clarity for industry and investors, reinforces and secures the state's role as a global energy leader.
"WA gas is not only vital to local communities and industry – it strengthens our international role as a reliable energy supplier, supports decarbonisation in the region, and delivers long-term benefits to regional communities and workers across the state," McCulloch said.
1308 WST
WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy reacts
The CME WA has also welcomed the announcement with their director policy and advocacy Anita Logiudice saying the long-awaited resolution significantly boosted Western Australia's energy security and would benefit WA industry and households.
"The importance of the North West Shelf to WA cannot be overstated," Logiudice said.
"The North West Shelf Project has provided energy security for WA for more than 40 years, supported WA industries and created thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
"Since coming online in 1984, the North West Shelf Project has generated over $40 billion in royalties and excise – money used to fund roads, schools and hospitals as well as essential services like Medicare and the NDIS.
"In addition to its economic benefits, gas has a key role to play in the decarbonisation of WA's power grids as a reliable and affordable form of back-up electricity when the sun is not shining and wind turbines fall still.
"LNG exported from WA is also helping our Asian neighbours to displace coal, providing energy security on their own decarbonisation journeys."
1311 WST
Watt grants "partial declaration" to protect Murujuga rock art
As well as granting Woodside the full approval, Watt has also addressed the section 10 application by Traditional Owner Raelene Cooper for special protections to be established for the Murujuga rock art.
This is his statement in full:
"Today, in accordance with Federal cultural heritage law, I have made a partial declaration to protect a significant Aboriginal heritage site at Murujuga, in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
"The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act (ATSIHP Act) allows the Federal Environment Minister to make a declaration protecting a significant Aboriginal heritage area and or objects that are under threat of injury or desecration.
"Similar declarations have been made under previous governments, both Labor and Coalition
"The protected area has been carefully managed by the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga, the Ngarda-Ngarli, for more than 50,000 years.
"The significance of the area, including its World Heritage recognised values and rock art, reflects the interaction between people and place over thousands of generations.
"This decision follows extensive consultation that demonstrated the area is of particular significance to the Ngarda-Ngarli people in accordance with their traditions.
"The declaration will mean additional legal protections placed over part of the area, to ensure Murujuga's ancient rock art is appropriately protected into the future.
"Importantly, this decision does not stop industry from operating at Murujuga."
"It essentially requires by law companies to do what they have said they will do in cultural heritage management plans - talk to Traditional Owners and Custodians and come to an agreement on how to use current and relevant information and practices to protect this World Heritage land.
"The decision also recognises the work being done by industry to ensure the area, including the rock art, is appropriately protected for generations to come.
"The Murujuga Cultural Landscape is internationally recognised for its outstanding heritage values following inscription to the World Heritage List in July 2025.
"The Albanese Government is committed to protecting First Nations culture and protecting jobs.
"It's not one or the other.
"The partial declaration and explanatory statement will be available online on the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation.gov.au."
Reaction from Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association
"AREEA welcomes today's Commonwealth approval, granted with conditions, of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf Extension as a strong step in Australia's national interest.
"This decision follows six years of rigorous assessment and appeals and secures the ongoing operations of a project that has powered Western Australia and international customers for more than four decades.
"Over its life the North West Shelf has delivered over $40 billion in royalties and excise, created thousands of highly paid Australian jobs and driven regional development in the Pilbara.
"The project remains central to Western Australia's energy security and economy, supplying a significant share of the state's domestic gas, supporting hundreds of local businesses and investing heavily in the Karratha community.
"It sustains almost 900 direct employees and more than 1,000 contractors, while supporting thousands more jobs across industries that rely on affordable, reliable gas.
"Today's approval provides long-awaited certainty, sending a positive signal boosting investor confidence in Australia's resources and energy sector.
"It further supports our national prosperity ensuring reliable energy, ongoing revenues and enduring employment on Australia's path towards a balanced energy transition."
1322 WST
Approval is an "intergenerational climate failure" says the Conservation Council of WA
The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) statement brands the approval of the North West Shelf extension ‘a climate fail', and calls the decision both dangerous and deficient.
CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts said that after 15 weeks of ‘consultation' - over the conditions of approval - well beyond the initial 10-day deadline Woodside was given to respond – this approval will green-light billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from the plant over the next 45 years.
"The conditions imposed on the NWS approval seem to be set to appease Woodside shareholders at the expense of climate, nature and culture – there are no conditions which would make this an acceptable decision," Mr Roberts said.
"The Minister has placed ‘48 strict conditions' on approval, including reducing emission levels. The question we ask, is who will be monitoring and reporting on these numbers?
In a reference to action to come he added the CCWA will now be seeking to clarify the details of the conditional approval in line with provisions under s131A of the EPBC Act.
1329 WST
WA business group responds
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA says the final environmental approval of the North West Shelf Project extension will help to keep Australian industry competitive by securing more affordable and reliable energy for households and businesses.
CCIWA's Chief Economist, Aaron Morey, said the project's approval highlights how vital gas is to our economy.
"Without a secure supply of gas, our industries wouldn't just slow down - they'd stop all together," he said.
"From mining and manufacturing to construction and food production, natural gas is the backbone of WA's economy. Hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on it."
Mr Morey said today's decision will provide certainty to the project's proponents, as well as industry and the broader community.
"In 2024, the project supplied 14% of WA's total domestic gas supply. Approval of the project's extension will mean energy security can continue," he said.
"But it's much more than cooking and hot water. Gas helps to keep the lights on by supporting the electricity grid during demand surges like heatwaves.
"In WA, 40% of our drinking water comes from desalination plants, which rely on gas for specific processes."
Morey said the North West Shelf Project extension would also allow Australia to play an ongoing role in helping our regional neighbours to decarbonise.
"Gas has fewer carbon emissions than coal when used for electricity generation, which will be critical to helping some of the world's rapidly industrialising nations reduce their carbon footprint," he said.
"This approval will have an obvious economic benefit for Australia, with the royalty and excise revenue the project generates flowing back to communities."
1332 WST
Greenpeace's reaction
Greenpeace Australia Pacific has slammed the approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension, calling it a "betrayal of Australian and Pacific communities."
David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: "Woodside's plans to continue processing gas till 2070 and drill for gas at Scott Reef are grotesque. They risk the destruction of one of Australia's largest freestanding oceanic coral reefs, and would contribute to climate disaster. Today's approval erodes the climate credibility of the Albanese government at a moment when it is already on thin ice.
1335 WST
Australian Conservation Foundation responds
Australian Conservation Foundation climate program manager Gavan McFadzean says the conditions attached to the extension of Woodside's NW Shelf gas hub on WA's Burrup Peninsula cannot curb the climate damage that will flow from giving approval to the largest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere.
"The conditions can't alter the fact the Albanese government is responsible for granting one of the world's largest gas approvals while the planet is engulfed in a climate crisis.
"Research released by ACF in 2024 shows lifetime emissions from the NW Shelf project would be more than 13 times Australia's annual emissions from all sources.
"It beggars belief that the Albanese government would choose to detonate this carbon bomb."
1340 WST
Australian Greens attack decision
The Australian Greens have called Labor's decision to rubber stamp an extension to Woodside's North West Shelf project ‘a betrayal' to voters hoping for strong climate action.
The leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Larissa Waters said: "Labor has caved to pressure from a dirty gas corporation. This approval is a betrayal and a disastrous decision for the future of our planet.
"Our environmental laws, which allow the Environment Minister to sign off on projects that will make the climate crisis worse, are broken. Minister Watt's next test is to enshrine environmental laws that protect the climate so another massive gas project like this is never approved in Australia.
"In a time where we have been living through a once-in-a-decade weather event almost every year, this approval will mean more intense floods, fires and species extinctions, plus more pollution each year than all of Australia's coal stations combined.
"This extension also endangers the sacred Murujuga rock art that includes the earliest depiction of the human face on the planet. And it puts pressure on beautiful Scott Reef and on the Kimberley for new fracking sites to feed this hungry gas plant.
"People believed Labor when they said they'd take real action on the climate crisis, but instead in the first 6 months of this parliament they've caved again to the pressure of coal and gas profits.
"People didn't vote for Woodside's carbon bomb."
Backing her party leader's comments, the Australian Greens environment spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young added: "The approval of Woodside's climate bomb has blown apart Labor's credibility on protecting our climate and environment. On the eve of the government announcing the 2025 climate targets, this is a terrible sign that the fossil fuel companies are still dictating government policy.
"This decision highlights why we need new environment laws. It's beggars belief that in 2025, the Environment Minister is signing off on fossil fuel projects that will make the climate crisis worse.
"It is devastating that so soon after the public elected one of the most progressive parliaments in Australia's history, one of the new Environment Minister's first acts in the job has been approving one of the biggest, dirtiest gas projects in Australia out to 2070.
"This monstrous gas expansion will be an environmental disaster – unleashing gas pollution on a huge scale, destroying cultural heritage and threatening pristine ecosystems like Scott Reef, home to threatened endangered species like the green sea turtle and the pygmy blue whale."
1441 WST
Meg O'Neill reacts
1443 WST
Lobby group ANGEA welcomes announcement
1444 WST
Climate Council unhappy at decision
Following the announcement, the Climate Council has warned the Albanese Government is putting Australians in harm's way as it prepares to green light Woodside's North West Shelf until 2070, the most polluting fossil fuel project in a decade.
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: "This project is a climate bomb that will unleash more than four billion tonnes of pollution, fuelling even more dangerous floods, fires and droughts for Australian communities. While families are already paying the price of climate disasters, the Albanese Government is giving Woodside a free pass to pollute for 45 years."
"If the Government wants its 2035 climate target to be taken seriously, it must stop approving coal and gas projects. Every new fossil fuel project unleashes more pollution here and abroad. The government can't credibly claim to be doing everything possible to fight climate change while waving through more pollution."
1455 WST
Government publishes official notice of approval and statement of reasons
The full and lengthy statement of reasons can be found here.
1511 WST
Protest planned
In response to the announcement today the CCWA and Go Beyond Gas have decided to hold a demonstration outside Woodside's HQ on Monday.
In calling for the protest, the campaign groups said: "Labor has just greenlit the biggest and most polluting fossil fuel hub in Australia – Woodside's North West Shelf export facility. They've caved to Woodside's pressure and locked us in for 4 BILLION tonnes of emissions through to 2070.
"Australians handed Anthony Albanese a huge majority at the last election but he's squandering it on favours for the fossil fuel industry. This is not the leadership Australians voted for, and it's not the leadership the world needs.
"We've been let down. The Government have ignored our pleas to protect our climate, culture, economy, and future. Thousands of you have written to the Environment Minister and Prime Minister, spoken with MPs, sent postcards, lodged appeals, and marched in the streets – and still, they didn't listen.
"So now, we need to get louder. We need to be bolder. And we need to show up in numbers they can't ignore."
1514 WST
Traditional Owner's letter of appeal to Watt
With the North West Shelf extension approved until 2070, the Friends of Australian Rock Art group, have released a letter sent from Murujuga traditional owner Samantha Walker to Watt late last month.
1527 WST
Dissenting industry voice
In an interesting break from the welcoming words coming from industrial circles, Fortescue's chief climate scientist Shanta Bailey has spoken out.
In a social media post Bailey says: "The fact that Woodside (Australia's biggest fossil fuel company) just got a huge extension on the facility it uses to turn natural gas into liquid, is the government saying: 'As long as you're a fossil fuel company, you can increase your emissions. Go ahead, expand!'
"Everyone else? (We're looking at you, Fortescue...) You need to do the hard work so Australia can meet its 2035 target - in fact, you're going to have to do EVEN MORE work, to make up for the fossil fuel industry expanding.
"It's a double standard."
1542 WST
Murujuga TO Raelene Cooper says decision will "hang around Albanese's neck"
Here is the full statement from one of the project's main opponents.
"I have been waiting three and a half years for this Section 10 Declaration.
"The government has finally rushed it out simultaneously with its decision to extend the life of Woodside's North West Shelf, the most polluting gas plant in the Southern Hemisphere, until 2070.
"This decision is a slap in the face. It allows Woodside to continue operations and pollution to 2070. It is a crime against Murujuga and a crime against humanity.
"This is not just destroying Murujuga country, but will impact communities all around the world. It is a shameful act and a shameful decision.
"It is a betrayal of Aboriginal people, it is a betrayal of our Elders, it is a betrayal of future generations. It is a betrayal of all Australians.
"And the approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension project is a betrayal of our Pacific Island neighbours.
"My lawyers have already put the Minister on notice that this decision may have breached his statutory duties and international legal obligations.
"I will take some time to examine the full implications of these two decisions, and to seek further legal advice from my lawyers. I will have much more to say in coming days."
1615 WST
Parents for Climate group's reaction
1617 WST
Outspoken MP Kate Chaney reacts
