The gas industry is celebrating the long-awaited approval of a massive project extension, as traditional owners and environmental advocates vow to fight the decision and future developments.
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Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - was given the green light by the federal government on Wednesday to keep operating until the 2070.
The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official.
But after years of delay, the decision by new Environment Minister Murray Watt represents an endorsement of the sector by the Labor government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said gas was an important part of the energy transition, providing firming capacity to renewables alongside batteries and hydro.
"I've met with the Indigenous traditional owners there, around Dampier, around that region, and there are different views, let me say, on that issue," he told ABC Radio.
Greens leader Larissa Waters ramped up her attack on North West Shelf, saying it would be "the biggest and dirtiest gas project" Australia had seen.
"I think people will be horrified that the government, who said that they were going to take the climate crisis seriously, have ticked off on yet another mega fossil-fuel project," she said.
Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said the conversation around gas had evolved in Australia, with cost-of-living pressures from the renewables rollout a key feature of the recent federal election.
"Increased supply of natural gas is part of the solution to help bring those power prices down," she told reporters.
Saul Kavonic, an energy expert with advisory firm MST Marquee, said there was hope within the gas industry that the poor performance of the Greens in the election would allow the government to take a more investment-friendly approach.
Replacing former environment minister Tanya Plibersek, who was vulnerable to the Greens in her inner-city Sydney electorate, with Senator Watt had been a "massive improvement for the approvals landscape".
Opposition from environmental and indigenous groups still threaten the project and muddy the industry's outlook.
Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper launched a last-minute legal bid to stop the project in the Federal Court, and indicated she would continue her fight following Senator Watt's decision.
"They have taken away the voices of First Nations people in this country to make an executive decision without our consent," she said.
The approval came just hours after the United Nations said industrial emissions at Karratha threatened the nearby rock art, likely sinking Australia's attempts to secure heritage listing for the carvings if the extension goes ahead.
The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which partners with the WA government in monitoring the preservation of the rock art, said a recent evaluation report found the site was in a good state of conservation and supported its World Heritage listing.
Woodside faces more approval hurdles.
The company is hoping to tap into the nearby Browse Basin to feed the plant when existing gas fields run out in the 2030s.
Ms O'Neill said the North West Shelf extension would still be worth it without Browse, because it also processes gas from other shippers, but Browse would be particularly important for domestic energy security beyond the 2030s.
But the massive gas field has also become a target for environmental activists, who claim it would produce 1.6 gigatons of carbon emissions over its 50-year project life.
Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O'Shanassy vowed to keep fighting the proposal.
Australian Associated Press
