Contributed by Jim Hayes

Fossil fuel company Woodside has had its sights set on getting hold of Scarborough gas field for a long time and has come up with the Burrup project to realise this ambition. This, which has been called the fifth most gas polluting project in the world, is now under construction.

Burrup is at h centre. This is a massive drilling field under Scott reef off the coast at Exmouth in the northwest of Australia. The field is to feed the company’s huge LNG plant to export the processed gas overseas.

The project is a serious threat to marine life in the area affected. This involves 12 marine parks and up to 54 species being put at risk. This includes the UNESCO protected Ningaloo Reef. In full operation, the project will emit 6.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases. This is a major contribution to the spectre of climate change.

Conservationist groups have been active in trying to stop this for years and have built a sizeable campaign. Greenpeace Australia Pacific is a major play. They are not the only ones. Together, opponents of the Burrup project have brought attention to it across Australia. Greenpeace will soon present a major petition to the federal parliament.

A day on the regular Monday vigil against Woodside in Perth

The next stage involves sinking 50 more gas wells around Scott Reef.

Woodside has been able to get as far as it has by using its power to enlist government support. One form of this support has been to allow the company to under report on emissions by mot counting that which laves Australia soil through export, when more than 80 percent of the gas is sent overseas.

This fossil fuel company must still contend with its opponents. This means they haven’t won yet. Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared the Browse project as too dangerous to proceed. This hasn’t stopped it, but it does show that the opposition has strength. Federal and state laws would put a stop to it if they were followed. Governments in Canberra and Perth must be made to apply them. If they continue to turn a blind eye and assist Woodside to carry on, they must be called out for it.

This can only happen if those fighting this project get the support they deserve from all parts of Australia. Woodside can be defeated.

A victory here would highlight the damage caused by the fossil fuel industry and strengthen public opinion against it. It would strike a blow to the false claim that Australia needs to export gas to build the domestic economy.