Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek blames WA for delay in decision on Woodside’s North West Shelf

The Federal Government has blamed WA for needing to push out the deadline on its approvals process for Woodside’s North West Shelf venture, saying State bureaucrats were tardy in passing along vital paperwork.

But Woodside Energy and the wider resources sector say every delay, no matter the cause, affects investment decisions and the case was yet another example of the problems with duplicated approvals processes.

The Federal Environment Department has now pushed out its deadline until March 31 to making a decision about extending the life of the project — a date that could be even later if an election is called for April.

The State Government made its own decision to approve the extension to 2070 in mid-December but didn’t forward the paperwork to Federal counterparts until early February.

Premier Roger Cook said given the state approval process had taken six years, a delay of another few weeks “won’t actually inconvenience everyone that greatly”.

Woodside and partners in the North West Shelf want to keep the giant LNG hub operating until 2070. It will be the likely site to process gas from the huge Browse field, in what would be a $30 billion project.

The approvals took six years to get through the WA government’s processes before a December 12 decision.

A spokeswoman for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the project had only been “in the Federal Government process for a few weeks” and pointed out the extension sought didn’t come online until the 2030s.

“The Australian Government’s energy experts have advised that the time needed to complete the standard Federal assessment process will have no impact on gas supply or prices,” she said.

“The Government received the last of the required documentation earlier this month. The department now requires reasonable time to assess the project in accordance Australia’s national environment laws, which were put in place by John Howard’s Liberal government.”

But a Woodside spokesperson said the “unexpectedly protracted duration of the approvals process” was now impacting the investment decisions needed to back in near-term gas supply for WA.

“Ongoing uncertainty about the future operation of the existing North West Shelf makes it difficult to invest in projects that would bring more gas supply online right when it is needed in Western Australia,” the spokesperson said.

The statutory deadline for the Federal approval was February 28 but the department has extended this to March 31.

However, this would likely blow out further if an election is called before then because the department would be unlikely to want to make such a controversial decision itself during caretaker mode.

The department is yet to send a decision brief to Ms Plibersek.

Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said in a speech earlier in February that it was “in nobody’s interests” for an approval to continue using existing infrastructure to take more than six years for sign-off.

The Federal department made multiple requests over the summer period for the information it needed from the WA department but did not receive it until early February.

Mr Cook repeatedly said on Wednesday he hadn’t been briefed on the paperwork issue and wouldn’t comment on it.

“The assessment of the extension of the North West Shelf gas project has been basically ongoing for about the last five to six years. So if this is a delay of just a few, a handful of weeks, well, I’m sure that won’t actually inconvenience everyone that greatly,” he said.

Shadow treasurer Steve Martin accused governments at both levels of being “desperate to reject this proposal” – despite the WA approval – and called for the finger-pointing to stop.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson said the six-year-plus time frame was unacceptable.

“The latest delay at a Federal level illustrates once again how duplicative processes act as a handbrake on much-needed development,” she said.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA head Peter Cock backed the call for reform of environmental laws, saying it was “simply not rigorous or efficient to have state and federal approvals ... running on different timelines”.

The Federal Government is already anticipating any decision would be challenged in the courts. This means although a department official could make the decision during the caretaker period, it is more likely to ensure the minister has the final say.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s WA spokesman Geoff Bice called for a thorough Federal assessment.

“The WA State assessment was lacklustre at best, and we remain concerned the WA Government is siding with fossil fuel companies rather than protecting the environment we love,” he said.