If Western Australia was a country, it would be the third largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exporter in the world after Qatar and the US. There are projects under development to expand this industry even further.

We are at a critical point in time.

Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will decide whether to approve both Woodside's highly polluting Browse gas project as well as a forty-year extension of their gigantic North West Shelf project. The North West Shelf project, fed by the Browse gas field would add around 4.3 billion tonnes of emissions to our atmosphere and cancel out the combined savings from all announced measures to reduce carbon pollution in Australia from now until 2030.

This is one of, if not the most, significant climate decisions this government will make.

We constantly hear conflicting claims about the importance of gas for the Western Australian and national economy. We also know about the serious impacts it has on our health, climate, and environment.

Join Josh Wilson MP, member for Fremantle, Kate Chaney MP, independent member for Curtin, and Dr Richard Denniss, leading economist and Executive Director of The Australia Institute, to cut through the spin to discuss the reality of gas development in WA.

Speakers

Josh Wilson MP is the member for Fremantle, and was first elected to parliament in 2016 and was re-elected for a third term in May 2022, and was the Shadow Assistant Minister for the Environment from 2019-2022. He grew up in Fremantle and has made leadership contributions through public and community service. His priorities are protecting and improving the things we share – universal healthcare, high-quality education, our environment, and key infrastructure.

Kate Chaney MP is the Independent Federal Member for Curtin in Western Australia. Kate was elected on a platform of climate action, integrity in politics and inclusive communities. Kate has spoken in Parliament on topics including gambling reform, the passing of the Climate Change Act, aged care reform, tax reform, campaign donation transparency and housing.

Dr Richard Denniss, Executive Director of the Australia Institute, is a prominent economist, author and public policy commentator, and a former Assoc Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU. He is the author of several books including: Econobabble, Curing Affluenza, Dead Right: How Neoliberalism Ate Itself and What Comes Next? and Big: The Role of the State in the Modern Economy