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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for the Environment and Water (Senator Watt) to a question without notice I asked today.

Megapolluter and tax avoider Woodside have a proposal which would drill dozens of gas wells near Scott Reef, an ancient marine ecosystem home to endangered whales, sea turtles and rich marine life. This Browse project is a disaster waiting to happen. Woodside admits that a spill from its wells or from its 900-kilometre underwater pipeline could spew out pollution for months. That alone should be enough to say no to this destructive project, but it would also be a massive carbon bomb, releasing 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution. That's equivalent to four years of Australia's total current emissions. Yet the minister, under our environmental laws, doesn't have to consider that. He can ignore that Browse would turbocharge climate change, even though it drives coral bleaching, heatwaves, bushfires, flooding and puts nature and communities at risk.

New expert evidence from the Australian Conservation Foundation shows that Browse emissions will have a direct impact on the Great Barrier Reef. They've asked the minister to reconsider whether those climate impacts need to be assessed, and it's essential that they are. Environmental laws that fail to consider climate impacts ignore the biggest threat to nature. Approving fossil fuel projects while ignoring climate impacts breaches our international obligations. We need a climate trigger in our environmental laws, and, until we get one, the minister must commit to at least considering the direct climate impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.

Australians won't see any benefit from Browse, but we will pay the price for Woodside's greed. The project only stacks up for Woodside if they get our gas for free. Woodside would be raking in massive profits while Australia misses out on the millions that we could earn from a 25 per cent gas export tax. It's all downside for nature and for Australia. A Green environment minister who had the chance to stop a climate bomb and protect Scott Reef and the Great Barrier Reef would put the environment ahead of their fossil fuel mates.

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

Woodside's Browse project isn't an economic opportunity. It is a climate bomb—a project that would unleash 1.6 billion tonnes of pollution, put our reefs at risk and make billions for Woodside while Australians get nothing except a clean-up bill. And for what? So a multinational corporation can take Australia's gas, ship it overseas and pay next to no tax. That's the deal. Woodside gets the profits; Australia gets the pollution. Labor says it's following the law. What kind of law allows fossil fuel projects to be assessed without considering climate impacts? What kind of law lets a project that threatens one of the world's greatest natural wonders ignore the damage that its emissions will cause?

Thanks to the Australian Conservation Foundation, new evidence is sitting on Minister Murray Watt's desk showing Browse's emissions will contribute directly to the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef through climate driven coral bleaching. The evidence is clear. The science is clear. Now, the question is: will the minister listen? Will he stand up to the gas lobby, or will Labor once again put fossil fuel profits ahead of our environment and our communities?

This is a defining moment. If you care about the Great Barrier Reef, Scott Reef, our oceans, our marine life and making multinational corporations pay their fair share, now is the time to speak up. Tell Minister Watt that our reefs are worth more than Woodside's profits. Tell him Australians do not want another climate bomb approved—a climate bomb that depends on getting our gas for next to nothing. Tell him enough is enough—no new gas, no drilling at Scott Reef, no more putting multinational corporations ahead of people and nature. This is your chance, Australia, to drown out the voices of multinational gas corporations who want to pollute our planet and pay next to no tax. Let's drown their voices out. If ordinary Australians stay silent, the only voices the minister will hear are those of the fossil fuel industry—the voices of Woodside and their mates, and they have had the microphone for far too long. Make a submission. Let's get this thing killed off.

Question agreed to.