Contributed by Ben Wilson

Environment minister Murray Watt has hardly got the job, and he has moved fast to prepare an all clear for Woodside to take a wrecking ball to Australia’s north-west coast. There has not even been a pretence that the concerns put by forward by opponent were considered. Hr even denied the call by the Labor Party’s own internal Labor environment Action Network to say no to Woodside.

Woodside’s gas facility at Karratha was supposed to close when the existing environmental approval ends in 2030. This would bring it in line with existing environment policy to cut Australia’s carbon emissions. Not anymore. Woodside has been pushing for a new extension for another 40 years.

Photo from Sky News Australia: environment Minister Murray Watt gives gas giant the go ahead at the North West Basin

The destruction that this would bring to the North West Shelf environment through dredging and contamination is well documented. The sought extension would make this “the most polluting fossil fuel project green-lit by the Albanese government,” according to the Climate Council. Ongoing works would release an equivalent of more than a decade’s worth of Australia’s annual carbon emissions.

The minister claims that opponents to the Woodside project have not met several requirements necessary under the current Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act. Maybe this is technically true. But this reveals that the act is flawed and designed to break what it is supposed to protect. Australia needs a fit for purpose environmental law and ensuring this is the responsibility of the minister and government.

In this case, the appropriate action would be to listen to the science pause Woodside’s plans and get on with the job of improving the law. The fact that this is not what is being done speaks volumes. Anthony Albanese had promised to change the Act to give it teeth. This has now been shelved.

Part of the reason is that West Australia’s Labor State government is fiercely pro-Woodside, despite the state’s own Protection Environment Authority, described Woodside’s plan “unacceptable,” because of the threat it posed to marine life in places like Scott Reef, which would be ripped up to access gas below it. This is home to more than 1,500 species, many of which are unique to the area.

H conservation Council of West Australia’s Executive Director said it is “particularly disappointing” that Murray Watt dismissed concerns once day after meeting with industry heavyweights. He had refused to give environment groups, including the Council and Greenpeace a similar curtesy.

The crash through n matter what attitude shown by both governments betrays their supposed commitment to major reduction in the nations carbon emissions. It puts their environment policy into serious question.