By David Crowe and Mike Foley
Resources Minister Madeleine King has warned of a bigger energy crisis in future years if new gas fields like the Narrabri project in northern NSW do not go ahead, declaring that critics of the project should accept the need for gas as part of the transition from coal to renewable energy.
Warning of gas shortfalls that could hurt industry and households, the new federal minister said Narrabri should proceed if it met environmental safeguards and all the gas should flow to the domestic market.
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King wants the controversial Narrabri gas project to go ahead.Credit: Trevor Collens
Santos wants to produce the first gas from the controversial project in 2026 and says it could sell the gas “two or three times over” on the domestic market because demand is so strong, but the company must gain state and federal approvals for gas production and a pipeline to Sydney.
The gas field is opposed by the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, the Climate Council, the Gomeroi traditional owners and others, while Greens leader Adam Bandt wants federal Labor to halt all new gas and coal projects.
King said she hoped the project would go ahead but understood it had to pass further regulatory checks, including challenges under native title legislation.
“If Narrabri meets all the environmental standards, and by all accounts it does, then it makes sense for it to go ahead,” King said in her first interview with the Herald and The Age since taking office.
Santos has faced resistance over its Narrabri Gas Project.Credit: Getty
“It is an important gas reserve that will help the population of NSW address a future power crisis. It avoids a crisis, is what it does, because it means more gas closer to your systems.”
While the NSW government has backed the Santos plan in principle, the project is subject to independent environmental approvals while the government also examines a separate plan to build an import terminal in Port Kembla to supply gas that has been shipped from Western Australia.
King emphasised that she wanted to “decarbonise” the economy by shifting to renewables but had to deal with household and industry demand “and accept some of the realities of our current energy mix”.
She said demand for gas would fall over time and she wanted Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050 with Labor policies to shift to renewables and invest in the electricity grid, but she said gas was part of the transition because it would replace dirtier emissions from coal-fired power.
“I understand people’s concerns about there being a lack of determination around meeting net zero emissions and a lack of an energy plan and that has been because of the climate wars in this country in the last 10 or 15 years,” she said.
“I have a lot of sympathy for it and I’m as angry as anyone about the inaction that has allowed the current crisis to be upon us.
“But everyone needs to understand, especially I think in some of the southern states, that right now when you flick on your light switch or have your dishwasher running or turn on your telly, for the most part, that moves a turbine in a coal-fired generator ... you’re using more coal, which is high in emissions.
“While the government is now bringing in an energy plan which will get working on renewables, and that’s our very determined ambition, gas is the transition fuel that is able to bring down emissions in the short term.
“So it’s not a perfect answer. We’d all love to switch straight from coal to renewables. But it’s simply not possible,” she said.
“So I guess for the good people of NSW, they need to consider what they really want. And I imagine they still want to be able to turn on their television and keep their fridge running.
“What is the current means to be able to do it and be on a downward trajectory with emissions? Well, it’s via gas on the way to a proper, solid, reliable transmission system that allows renewables and the storage of renewables to operate into the long term.
“We’ve got a long way to go, actually, because of the lack of investment over the last 10 or 15 years and you can’t switch on investment like we switch on lights.
“And for those people that will get angry at me for what I’ve said, I just want to let them know that I want to clean and decarbonised world as well. And that’s what we’re working towards. It might not be on the same timeline as others. But we are all going through the same goal.”
Santos has promised in the past that all the gas from Narrabri would serve the domestic market if the project gained approval, making this part of its formal submission to the Independent Planning Commission.
“Santos has committed to providing all this gas to the domestic market and agreed to accept a condition to this effect on any petroleum production lease granted for the project under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991,” the company wrote.
Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher confirmed the pledge in an interview on Sky News on June 8.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.