Labor to avoid climate trigger in EPBC Act as North West Shelf gas project gets green light to 2070
Sky News Sunday Agenda understands the Albanese government will not support Greens calls to include climate change in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The Albanese government will not support the Greens' proposal to insert a climate trigger into national environment laws, according to sources.
The position has come into focus following Environment Minister Murray Watt's decision to approve Woodside's North West Shelf gas project extension until 2070.
Mr Watt confirmed the approval on Wednesday, allowing one of the country's largest LNG operations to continue well beyond the government's goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
The decision was made without any consideration of the project's climate impact as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act does not include this as a factor.
Under the EPBC Act, the minister was only required to assess the project's impact on matters such as indigenous heritage, including Murujuga rock art on the site.
Sky News Sunday Agenda understands that while the government will proceed with long-promised reforms to the EPBC Act, these will not include a climate trigger.
The government will follow the advice of the 2021 Samuel Review into the EPBC Act—commissioned by former environment minister Sussan Ley. — Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) May 30, 2025
The Greens have publicly accused Labor of preparing to greenlight the North West Shelf project in secret and failing their first major climate test in government.
Greens leader Larissa Waters said the party would 'be encouraging environment groups to take legal action against this approval' in a statement on Thursday.
'Approving fossil fuels out to 2070 totally undermines the government's commitment to net zero by 2050, which is already too late for a safe climate future,' she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the role of gas in supporting the country's transition to renewables on Monday.
'You can't have renewables unless you have firming capacity. You don't change a transition through warm thoughts,' he told reporters at a press conference.
'You do it through a concrete proposal, which is the expansion of renewables up to 82 per cent of the grid, but the way that that occurs is it needs firming capacity to occur.'
The story of this parliament increasingly appears to be that Labor can pass its agenda with solely Greens support—but so far appears unwilling to adopt any of their key demands.
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Australia is not powerless, and we cannot be involved in another brutal war in the Middle East." About 2600 Australians in Iran are seeking assisted departures from the region, alongside about 1200 in Israel as the government urges travellers not to venture to either nation. Staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs have evacuated the Tehran embassy and are helping Australians leave through the border in Azerbaijan. Some Australians have already left through land crossings but the government is also poised to help citizens leave once the airspace over both nations re-opens. Australia has called for a de-escalation as the situation in the Middle East continues to devolve following Donald Trump's decision to bomb Iran. The US military struck three Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday morning AEST in a move the American president declared a "spectacular military success". But the conflict could continue to worsen as Mr Trump warned "there will be peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days". The Australian government has consistently pushed for dialogue and diplomacy since Israel first launched strikes on Iran in mid June, and has continued to do so in the aftermath of Mr Trump's announcement. "We note the US president's statement that now is the time for peace," a government spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday. "The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy. "We have been clear that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security." Questions have been raised over whether Australia - as a US ally - should bolster American efforts in the Middle East. The federal government has insisted Australia is not a central player in the conflict, and only deployed defence assets to the region to assist in evacuation efforts, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong repeatedly emphasising they are not there to engage in combat. Meanwhile, the opposition has supported America's actions in Iran, noting they were taken to prevent the nation from acquiring nuclear weapons. "The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iranian regime and today the United States military has taken proactive action to ensure that we never need to," Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and acting opposition spokesman for foreign affairs Andrew Hastie wrote in a joint statement. "While Australians will never seek conflict in the world, we can never forget that the Iranian regime is a militantly theocratic autocracy. "It is the Iranian people who are the victims of this brutal regime and we stand in solidarity with them." At least 430 people have been killed and another 3500 injured in Iran according to Iranian media outlet Nour News, while local Israeli authorities have reported 24 civilian deaths and almost 1300 injuries. The casualty toll from US strikes is yet unclear but Greens leader Larissa Waters called the event a "terrifying and catastrophic escalation". "You cannot bomb your way to peace," she said in a statement. "Australia must always work for peace and de-escalation. Australia is not powerless, and we cannot be involved in another brutal war in the Middle East." About 2600 Australians in Iran are seeking assisted departures from the region, alongside about 1200 in Israel as the government urges travellers not to venture to either nation. Staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs have evacuated the Tehran embassy and are helping Australians leave through the border in Azerbaijan. Some Australians have already left through land crossings but the government is also poised to help citizens leave once the airspace over both nations re-opens. Australia has called for a de-escalation as the situation in the Middle East continues to devolve following Donald Trump's decision to bomb Iran. The US military struck three Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday morning AEST in a move the American president declared a "spectacular military success". But the conflict could continue to worsen as Mr Trump warned "there will be peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days". The Australian government has consistently pushed for dialogue and diplomacy since Israel first launched strikes on Iran in mid June, and has continued to do so in the aftermath of Mr Trump's announcement. "We note the US president's statement that now is the time for peace," a government spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday. "The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy. "We have been clear that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security." Questions have been raised over whether Australia - as a US ally - should bolster American efforts in the Middle East. The federal government has insisted Australia is not a central player in the conflict, and only deployed defence assets to the region to assist in evacuation efforts, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong repeatedly emphasising they are not there to engage in combat. Meanwhile, the opposition has supported America's actions in Iran, noting they were taken to prevent the nation from acquiring nuclear weapons. "The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iranian regime and today the United States military has taken proactive action to ensure that we never need to," Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and acting opposition spokesman for foreign affairs Andrew Hastie wrote in a joint statement. "While Australians will never seek conflict in the world, we can never forget that the Iranian regime is a militantly theocratic autocracy. "It is the Iranian people who are the victims of this brutal regime and we stand in solidarity with them." At least 430 people have been killed and another 3500 injured in Iran according to Iranian media outlet Nour News, while local Israeli authorities have reported 24 civilian deaths and almost 1300 injuries. The casualty toll from US strikes is yet unclear but Greens leader Larissa Waters called the event a "terrifying and catastrophic escalation". "You cannot bomb your way to peace," she said in a statement. "Australia must always work for peace and de-escalation. Australia is not powerless, and we cannot be involved in another brutal war in the Middle East." About 2600 Australians in Iran are seeking assisted departures from the region, alongside about 1200 in Israel as the government urges travellers not to venture to either nation. Staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs have evacuated the Tehran embassy and are helping Australians leave through the border in Azerbaijan. Some Australians have already left through land crossings but the government is also poised to help citizens leave once the airspace over both nations re-opens.
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'Biggest terrorist organisation in the world': Pro-Iran protester disrupts Andrew Hastie's press conference as Coalition backs US strikes on Iran
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