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WA's controversial Browse gas project open to public scrutiny

Australian Conservation Foundation

For the first time in eight years, the highly controversial WA Browse gas project is open to public comment after Environment Minister Murray Watt accepted ACF’s reconsideration request as valid.

While this is an administrative step, it is an important one for those campaigning to stop the highly destructive project from getting approval and spewing 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution into the atmosphere.

“New evidence ACF put before the Minister shows the climate pollution from Woodside’s Browse climate bomb would have unacceptable impacts on places of national significance like the Great Barrier Reef,” ACF CEO Adam Bandt said.

“Those scientific-based impacts simply can’t be ignored and should form part of Minister Watt’s decision on the Browse Gas Project.

“The decision to accept the reconsideration request as valid is critical, enabling public comment on Woodside’s controversial Browse Gas Project for the first time in eight years at a federal level.

“ACF will encourage its 600,000-strong supporter base to now have its say on the looming climate bomb, with submissions open for 20 days,” Mr Bandt said.

For further background on ACF’s Browse reconsideration request:

ACF commissioned research from IPCC Lead Author, Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick of the ANU, who found the emissions from the Browse Gas Project would result in the death of an additional 29.35 million individual coral colonies in every future mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.

If Minister Watt accepts ACF’s reconsideration request, these significant impacts would be a relevant consideration for government in deciding whether to approve the Browse Gas Project.

Contact details:

Freya Cole, ACF Head of Media and Content, 0477 638 774