Letter

In response to Environment: WA addicted to producing, burning and exporting gas

WA and feds complicit in undermining net zero

Peter Sainsbury’s striking graph on gas use from 2013 to 2023 reveals a shocker: Western Australia consumes as much gas as Victoria, Queensland and NSW combined – despite having a much smaller population. How? Because 36% of WA’s gas is used by the gas industry itself just to produce LNG for export.

As The Australia Institute notes, just running gas export terminals uses more gas than Australia’s entire manufacturing sector–— and over twice what households use. WA’s gas consumption and emissions have both soared over the decade, making it the biggest handbrake on Australia’s climate goals. It’s also stalling progress on stronger nature laws.

Yet instead of pulling the brakes, the federal government is hitting the accelerator – greenlighting Woodside’s North West Shelf gas expansion. If WA is fuelling the climate crisis, Canberra is lighting the match.

— Ray Peck from Hawthorn