Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McKim has submitted a proposal, under standing order 75, today, shown at item 12 on today's Order of Business:

The need for the Government to urgently ensure Santos fixes the 19 year leak of potent heat-trapping methane in Darwin and for the relevant ministers to also explain the failure of the CSIRO, Clean Energy Regulator and NOPSEMA who are reported to have had knowledge of the leak and have taken no action to protect the public.

Is consideration of the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for the Government to urgently ensure Santos fixes the 19 year leak of potent heat-trapping methane in Darwin and for the relevant ministers to also explain the failure of the CSIRO, Clean Energy Regulator and NOPSEMA who are reported to have had knowledge of the leak and have taken no action to protect the public.

A major methane leak has gone unaddressed in Darwin for almost two decades. Explosive documents released under FOI to the Environment Centre NT have revealed that Santos's LNG export hub in Darwin has been leaking methane for nearly 20 years since it was commissioned in 2006. FOI documents reveal that the original owner, ConocoPhillips, notified the Clean Energy Regulator, the federal agency, of the leak on 29 May 2020. No action was taken by the Clean Energy Regulator in response to this notification. As the minister currently responsible for the Clean Energy Regulator, Minister Bowen must provide an explanation.

The new owner, Santos, engaged the CSIRO to undertake monitoring of the fugitive methane emissions from the leak, but neither the existence of the leak nor the results of the monitoring have ever been made public. Minister Ayres is responsible for the CSIRO. An explanation and a public release of the monitoring results and any financial relationship with Santos are desperately needed. NOPSEMA was informed about the leak in late 2024. Despite awareness of the leak, NOPSEMA gave final approval to Santos's Barossa LNG project in April 2025. As the minister responsible for NOPSEMA, Minister King must also provide an explanation.

The leak continues in Darwin Harbour today, and there has been no commitment to fix the issue. So we have multiple federal and Territory regulators who knew about the leak but failed to require Santos to repair it or inform the public about it and its risks. We have multiple ministers responsible for these federal regulators, and so far there have been no explanations from them either. Then, of course, we have Santos and ConocoPhillips. Both appear to have intentionally concealed the leak from the public to ensure that it wouldn't derail their plans for an extension of the Darwin LNG plant or approval for its toxic Barossa gas field offshore project. These revelations are beyond disturbing. I commend the Environment Centre NT for uncovering what is either a spectacular failure of regulators or a deliberate cover-up by successive governments to protect a gas corporation's profit margin.

Methane is bringing forward climate disasters in our lifetime and should be the absolute priority of mitigation efforts. It is more than 80 times more damaging to the atmosphere over 20 years than carbon dioxide. The responsible federal ministers must urgently explain why their regulators knowingly allowed Santos to leak methane, an extremely potent heat-trapping gas that has a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, and to leak that for almost two decades. Ministers Bowen, Ayres and King must also explain if they were aware of what their regulators knew. Their climate credentials are well and truly on the line. These reports should be a jolt into action for the climate minister to fast-track methane regulation reforms to avoid future incidents like this and to ensure proper accounting of toxic methane. The International Energy Agency has already revealed that Australia is underreporting methane emissions by at least 64 per cent because coal and gas corporations are allowed to guess their methane emissions instead of actually measuring them. The climate minister agreed to fix this absurd loophole in negotiations, but no progress has occurred.

Furthermore, Minister Bowen must immediately assure the public that Santos will be compelled to repair the leak. Anything less would be unacceptable for the Darwin community and the climate. On what other planet would a massive gas corporation cover up a leak for 19 years, then seek approval for a fresh gas field to be used and for that leaky facility to be used for that fresh gas field and have the regulators roll out the red carpet for them? This is a company that doesn't pay its fair share of tax, that is getting the gas for absolute cheap, that is making megaprofits and that has now been spewing toxic methane for almost 20 years, yet this federal government still showers it with a confetti of approvals for yet more dirty, polluting gas. There are health implications here. There are climate implications here. It is about time we had a government that stood up to the fossil fuel industry rather than doing its bidding.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a remarkably hyperventilating motion this is. There is a third option, Senator Waters—through you, Madam Acting Deputy President Polley—in addition to the two you listed. That is that these leaks were known about, that they were catered for in the emissions reporting of this company and that the regulator was fully aware of them. It was not the scare campaign that you are attempting to drive here in this place today. The hyperventilation present in this motion is absolutely ridiculous. It's not new. In fact, it has previously been publicly reported. You don't like to mention that, because you want it to appear as some massive uncovering of some secret arrangement or the hiding of something that's been done in the past, when, in actual fact, it's been publicly reported. In fact, it's been included in the safety case and it's been part of the emissions reporting, as required under the law. We should not attempt to create something here that doesn't exist.

This is part of a long-term strategy from the Greens to be completely anti gas regardless of the impact on the economy, on the communities involved, on our energy system or on my home state of Western Australia, which is dependent on gas for 70 per cent of its energy requirements, both directly and indirectly. If you do what the Greens want, which is turn off the gas tomorrow—actually, it's not turn off the gas tomorrow but turn off the gas yesterday—then all these systems would fall apart. The economy would fall apart, people's livelihoods would fall apart and manufacturing would fall apart. We should not allow the Greens to trap us into believing their rhetoric on this issue.

I say once again to all those listening to this broadcast: this is not a matter of urgency in any way, shape or form. It is not new. It's been publicly reported on previously. It wasn't uncovered by an environment group in the Northern Territory. It has been included in safety cases. It's been included in the proposals to continue using this facility in the years to come. These facilities are absolutely vital to the economic wellbeing of places like the Northern Territory and Darwin. In the case of projects such as this in my home state of Western Australia, they are absolutely essential. Without new projects coming online, Western Australia will start to run out of gas in a couple of years.

It's absolutely vital that this infrastructure, which has existed for decades, which has been regulated under the law for decades, where fugitive emissions have been reported, as they are required to be under the law, is allowed to continue to operate to generate the wealth this country requires into the future to generate future jobs and the prosperity that we have relied upon for the last 20 or 30 years. Everybody in this place, including those who sit on the far left of the chamber from my position, have been beneficiaries of it. They know they've been beneficiaries of it, and they will continue to be beneficiaries of it, even though they get up in this place and speak against it day after day.

Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose this matter of urgency. The media reports today regarding leaking methane from the Darwin LNG facility are concerning, but they appear to be, on their face, a matter for the Northern Territory's EPA regulator. Despite that fact, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has asked his department to investigate these reports. That will be carried out as part of the work with the expert panel on methane reporting.

It is important that the conclusions that we reach and the actions that we take are based on facts and evidence, not knee-jerk reactions and political pointscoring. This occurs in a broader context where we are managing an energy transition to a clean energy grid, and gas plays a role in that. I know those in the Greens political party don't want to admit that, but the Future Gas Strategy this government has proposed and adopted is an essential part of that transition. Gas is an essential part of the transition as firming fuel. It's important, in these contexts, that governments act responsibly. It's important in these contexts that we have the appropriate confidence in the relevant departments and agencies responsible and that those agencies are allowed to carry out the important work with which they're tasked.

This government does not believe it's fair to characterise the work of agencies such as the CSIRO, the Clean Energy Regulator and NOPSEMA as a failure, as this urgency motion proposes to do. It's another attempt by the Greens to stir up controversy and it brings with it a worrying suggestion of a lack of integrity at these agencies for which this government does not believe there is a proper basis in evidence. Our respected scientists and regulatory agencies have behaved properly. They do so on behalf of Australians, and it is important that that be acknowledged. Motions like this lack foundation in terms of the attacks they make on those agencies. They're not allegations—accusations—that the government supports.

At the outset, it's important to acknowledge or note that the tank in question, the subject of this reporting in relation to methane leaks, is not currently in operation and that the licence to recommence operation of the tank is yet to be approved. The future of the tank will be a matter for the owners of the facility, if they want to continue to use that, and the Northern Territory regulator will need to determine whether it permits it to continue to be used for its purpose. The suggestion that multiple government agencies have failed to take action to protect the public is without foundation, and it is scurrilous in this motion. It also shows a misunderstanding of the responsibilities of those agencies. NOPSEMA, an environmental management authority, does not have jurisdiction to regulate the operation of the Darwin LNG facility. That agency's role was in approving the Barossa facility, and it was required to consider whether there were control measures in place. The agency determined that there was such a legislative framework in place to regulate unplanned emissions, but the responsibility for that falls on the Northern Territory regulators, and it's not appropriate to suggest that the regulator—in this case, NOPSEMA—has failed in its task on the basis of what's before us.

The emissions from the Darwin LNG facility are reported yearly under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act, and there are limits to emissions under the government's reformed safeguard mechanism. The government has already made changes to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme to improve the accuracy and transparency of reported fugitive methane emissions. That's part of the work of the expert panel led by Cath Foley in response to the CCA review, and that work continues to look at ways to further improve methane emissions reporting in coal and oil and gas facilities. But I think the most egregious aspect of the attack of the urgency motion and some of the things that have been said in this chamber has been the attack on the CSIRO, which is one of our most respected public agencies. The suggestion they are actively hiding information on the basis of a conflict of interest is without foundation—or, at least, that foundation has not been provided in what's been said today.

The CSIRO was engaged years ago to review methods used by third parties for monitoring fugitive methane emissions. It was not engaged to be the primary or engage in any direct monitoring on the site. While we're used to seeing attacks on our agencies, it is important to recognise that they do good work, that a process needs to play out here and that this urgency motion is without foundation.

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support this motion moved by Senator Waters, and I thank her for bringing this issue to the Senate. The saga reveals not only a staggering environmental failure but also a governance failure. For nearly two decades, Santos' Darwin LNG facility has been leaking massive volumes of methane into our atmosphere—up to 184 kilograms every single hour. This wasn't an unfortunate oversight; this was known by Santos, by ConocoPhillips and potentially by regulators from NOPSEMA to the Clean Energy Regulator. For almost 20 years nobody has acted to stop it.

We now know this leak was concealed, apparently to avoid threatening corporate profits and the approval of Santos' Barossa gas project. This is the cost of a system that too often treats climate vandalism as business as usual. Let's be clear: methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. This leak jeopardises our climate, our public health and the safety of the people of Darwin. Santos have had years to fix this, but today they've chosen not to. Today I call on Santos to fix the leak and pay for it not next year, not the year after that, not after their quarterly earnings call, but now. Start work to fix the leak now.

I call on the government too. How has this gone unaddressed for so long? How has a leak of this magnitude been hidden in plain sight? This is not just about a faulty tank; it's about a failure of transparency, of oversight, of public trust. We cannot hand a safe climate to future generations if we allow polluters to operate without proper scrutiny.

Australians deserve better and the planet demands better. It's issues like this that reinforce the notion that we are seeing state capture in our politics of the fossil fuel industry and of the major parties. They'll kick and scream and say: 'No, no. We may take donations from them, we may ram legislation through this place that seems designed for them, we may turn a blind eye to 20 years of leaking of methane into our atmosphere that we know is damaging, but there's no state capture here. We just happen to be making these decisions that go against what is good for our country and for future generations.' I urge the Albanese Labor government to turn things around. This is not good enough, and Australians are cottoning on to what's happening here. When Labor are in charge, they're no better than the coalition when it comes to gas; they need to change that.

Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against the urgency motion before us. The government is deeply concerned about reports of methane leaking from the Darwin LNG facility. That is why the minister has asked the department to review these reports as part of its important work with the expert panel on methane reporting. I reiterate the comments of my colleagues: this is a matter for the Northern Territory's EPA regulator to manage.

The government has complete confidence in the work of the relevant authorities and deep respect for the work of agencies like the CSIRO. I understand this facility has already been the subject of several reviews and investigations by the operator, Santos, and the Northern Territory EPA. We know the tank is currently not in operation. It was subject to an engineering investigation in 2020, when approval was sought to extend the life of the LNG facility. The appropriate regulatory approvals are in place and it has an approved safety case. The methane emissions are reported under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme, with a monitoring program in place. The licence to recommence operations of the tank is up for renewal on 18 September. It is a matter for Santos and the Northern Territory regulator to decide the most appropriate course of action.

Under Labor, these emissions are reported, under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act. They will be reported, scrutinised and subject to the safeguard mechanism, which has been strengthened under this government. Labor takes seriously the methane emissions, and we are modernising Australia's methane monitoring and reporting, with satellite technology, using the most rigorous, transparent data in our history. We take these obligations very seriously, and we will continue to make improvements in line with evidence and with science. Through updates to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme and an expert panel led by the Chief Scientist, we're integrating satellite and atmospheric measurement into our emissions accounting. Greater transparency for methane emissions was achieved in April this year, when facility-level methane emissions were published for safeguard facilities for the first time, along with the methods used to estimate those emissions. The Albanese government's response to the Climate Change Authority's review of the scheme shows that we take our reporting requirements seriously and make improvements based on science and evidence. The CCA review found the scheme was performing well and made 25 recommendations, including one to enhance fossil methane measurement reporting and verification. The work of the expert panel continues, looking at ways to further strengthen methane reporting. That is transparency in action, and it shows we will hold facilities to account. It means we have the very best science here in Australia underpinning our reporting. It means Australians can have confidence that our emissions reductions are real, measurable and verifiable.

Our government is delivering strong and credible action to protect our environment and cut emissions. For too long, Australia fell behind the world. The Liberals gave us a decade of denial and delay, leaving our country isolated on the international stage. But Labor changed that. In 2022, the Albanese Labor government ensured Australia joined the Global Methane Pledge, committing to work towards a 30 per cent reduction in methane emissions by 2030, and we are backing that commitment with practical action. We understand that reducing our methane emissions is crucial to meeting our commitment to net zero. That is why the National Reconstruction Fund includes funding streams for methane reduction technologies, as well as funding through the Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock program. We are fighting climate change on all fronts, and Australians can be proud that we, the Albanese government, are protecting our environment, strengthening the economy and building a cleaner, safer future.

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Here we go again: another week, another climate scandal. Thanks to investigative reporting and the efforts of the Environment Centre Northern Territory, we know that, for nearly two decades, Santos's Darwin LNG plant has been leaking toxic climate-destroying methane straight into Darwin Harbour. I honestly don't know how some people keep a straight face in this place as they're talking to their environmental credentials, ones not worth the paper they're written on.

Methane—a gas more than 80 times more damaging than carbon dioxide—over a 20-year period has been silently accelerating the climate crisis, while governments, regulators and corporations look the other way. Let's be clear. This isn't just a climate scandal. It's a crisis of democracy, of transparency and of accountability. Despite multiple agencies knowing—the Clean Energy Regulator, NOPSEMA, the CSIRO, Northern Territory WorkSafe and the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority—for almost 20 years the public has been kept in the dark! We must ask: 'Why? Why did no-one act? Why was this information buried? And whose interests are being served?'—because it certainly wasn't the interests of the Australian people; it certainly wasn't the people of Darwin, whose harbour has been treated like a dumping ground; and it certainly wasn't the climate.

Instead, what we see looks like a familiar pattern: a fossil fuel giant protecting its profits, regulators failing to regulate and successive governments bending over backwards for an industry that bankrolls their campaigns through donations while recruiting for cushy jobs via the revolving door, with ministerial offices. We know that the gas lobby has the ear of the government on speed dial, and now we learn that Santos was paying our national science agency, the CSIRO, to monitor this leak—monitoring that has never been made public. At the very same time, the government of secrecy is still sitting on its own climate risk assessment, refusing to release it, refusing to level with the public about the dangers we face.

While the truth about climate risk is buried in Canberra's filing cabinets, the truth about this gas leak has been buried in Darwin Harbour. This raises an unavoidable question: is this a spectacular failure of regulation, or a deliberate cover-up? Either way, it is a damning indictment of the integrity of decision-making in this country. The ministers responsible owe Australians an explanation. They must account for what their regulators knew and why they chose secrecy over transparency and corporate protection over public interest.

As a matter of urgency, Santos must be compelled to fix the leak and pay for the pollution it has caused. And we must expose and reform the deep capture of the government by the fossil fuel industry, because democracy depends on trust. Right now every Australian has reason to doubt whether their government works for them or for the fossil fuel companies wrecking our future.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's a reason for the secrecy around this methane leak in Darwin Harbour. There's a reason for the sensitivity around it. It's because both the dirty fossil fuel industry and this government know that we have a methane problem in this country. When methane leaks from a project it's called a fugitive emission. Did you know, senators, that 27 per cent of all our methane accounting in emissions comes from leaks from fugitive emissions? That makes up just less than 10 per cent of our nation's entire greenhouse gas inventories, from leaks from these kinds of projects. It beggars belief that, at a plant in the Northern Territory that is being looked at and studied by our science agencies and others, we can tolerate this, when at the same time we're opening up some of the biggest carbon bombs, the biggest fossil fuel projects, in our nation's history, and we want to store the carbon and the methane under the ocean, which has never been done before.

Whether it's the Barossa project—remember the sea dumping bill in the last parliament?—or the North-West Shelf extension out to 2070, talk about fugitive emissions, or Murujuga art, if you want to go down that road. But they want to open up the Browse Basin, near the pristine Scott Reef in Western Australia, and pump the CO2 and methane back under the ground, under the ocean. Who's going to be looking at that? These are some of the biggest projects in our nation's history. To even begin that process they literally have to blast the crap out of the ocean with seismic testing for decades to try to understand these geological structures.

This industry and the governments that are captured by these industries cannot be trusted with fugitive emissions, whether it be methane or whether it be CO2. The best way to cut our methane emissions and our carbon dioxide emissions is to stop all new fossil fuel projects in this country.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the matter of urgency, standing in the name of Senator McKim and moved by Senator Waters, be agreed to.