North West Shelf Extension
Federal Court challenge
We've just filed a Federal Court challenge to Woodside’s North West Shelf Extension on behalf of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF).
Located on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, Woodside’s North West Shelf project – including the Karratha Gas Plant and associated infrastructure – has been operating since the 1980s.
Last month, Environment Minister Watt approved an extension that would allow Woodside’s gas plant to continue operating for another 45 years, processing up to 18.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas each year.
ACF is challenging that approval in the Federal Court, arguing the Minister failed to properly assess the climate impacts of the project, including Scope 3 emissions, and the broader consequences for ecosystems like the Murujuga rock art landscape.
“We’re challenging the lawfulness of Minister Watt’s approval of this gas hub extension, which is the centrepiece of the most polluting gas project in the Southern Hemisphere”
— Adam Beeson, General Counsel, Australian Conservation Foundation
If it goes ahead, Woodside’s gas plant would be Australia’s largest, longest operating, and most polluting. By 2070, the North West Shelf Extension will generate around four billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – roughly ten times Australia’s total annual emissions.
The facility sits near Murujuga, home to the world’s oldest and largest collection of First Nations rock art, now recognised as a World Heritage site.
The project could also enable the extraction of gas from other fields, including the offshore Browse basin, near Scott Reef, and the Canning basin in the Kimberley.
In Court, ACF will argue Minister Watt acted unlawfully by:
- Failing to properly consider the projects climate emissions
- Factoring in the economic benefits of Browse – a
- Approving the extension without determining key air emissions, and
- Approving with unresolved uncertainties, leaving no rational basis to conclude that approval conditions would make the project’s impacts on the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago acceptable.
If successful, the case could set an important legal precedent.
We’ll keep you updated as the case progresses and share developments along the way.
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