THE Taroom Trough is the first oil field to be developed in Australia for half a century, but whether Albanese and Bowen have the common sense to support the project is another matter.
Albanese and Bowen haven’t exactly jumped into the limelight to promote the project, even though they have instituted “new rules” allowing the Commonwealth to grant “national interest exemptions” for projects under federal environment laws.
Federal environment laws have been largely responsible for the hobbling of resource development – for instance Adani’s $21 billion Carmichael Coal Mine, which was held up for two years until 2012, when the company threatened to seek its coal elsewhere.
The federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, approved it in 2015 and made a big show of threatening the mine operators Bravus with shut down if they did not adhere to ridiculous environmental conditions such as establishing a management plan for the black-throated finch – some unheard of bird listed as endangered under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act 1992 and the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
It was finally approved by the Queensland Labor government in 2016 after a rash of court cases and environmental studies all carried out under state and federal environment legislation.
The management plan included protecting and improving 31,000 hectares of southern black-throated finch habitat and providing $1 million in research funding “to improve conservation of threatened species over 10 years”. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t serious.
And then after project approvals came two Federal Court cases (both dismissed) by Queensland traditional owners who challenged mining leases and then the Australian Conservation Foundation, claiming Greg Hunt failed to consider whether burning coal and “climate pollution” would be inconsistent with international obligations to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
Urban environmentalists barely support traditional agriculture, let alone coal mines and oilfield developments. This cult is represented by The Greens, large chunks of Labor, the Teals and some among the Liberals – especially NSW.
We use the term cult, because this influential voting base harbours irrational hatred of so-called fossil fuels, which it claims is driving the planet towards ecological catastrophe.
For the Queensland LNP government to come out strongly in favour of an oilfield development is quite a radical challenge to this rampant green ideology that is entrenched in government departments, schools and universities and a dizzying range of NGOs and lobby groups.
Queensland Premier David Crisafuli says the Taroom Trough project is about national fuel security which depends on drilling, refining and storing fuel locally “and we’re determined to lead the country and make it happen”.
“We’re streamlining this project under the new Taroom Trough Development Plan and today we’re calling on the Federal Government to do the same,” the Premier said at the Taroom drilling site during the week.
“We’re asking for it to be assessed under the National Interest Fast-Track Assessment Pathway to remove duplicated approvals and get fuel flowing to Australians quicker.
“This is a generational opportunity to ensure we’re not left at the end of a global supply chain.”
Crisafuli and the LNP can only be credited with exercising common sense in this matter. Half a century ago, before environmentalist ideology grew to what it has become, such a project would barely have raised an eyebrow.
But as the Adani coal project showed us, environmentalists have the money and legal back-up to fight major economic development projects for years on end.
