❓ The Minister for Environment details environmental benefits secured from the Gorgon gas project approval, including offset packages, government commitments, geosequestration, and conservation reserve expansion.
AnsweredQoN 956Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GORGON GAS PROJECT
I refer to the minister’s decision on the Gorgon project. What environmental benefits have been secured? Mr M. McGOWAN
I refer to the minister’s decision on the Gorgon project. What environmental benefits have been secured? Mr M. McGOWAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Albany for the question. Members will be aware that this morning I determined the appeals on the Gorgon gas project and, in effect, have provided environmental approval for that project. This was not an easy decision to make. I made it on the basis of a range of factors, which I will go over very briefly. When the project came forward, a $40 million offset package of initiatives was offered to assist in environmental management, particularly in relation to Dirk Hartog Island. In addition, we have secured a further $60 million worth of commitments towards environmental initiatives to deal with issues related to the flatback turtles or some of the endemic species on Barrow Island and other environmental issues. That amounts to a $100 million commitment from that project towards environmental initiatives. In addition, this government has committed over $2.5 million towards management initiatives in the marine and terrestrial reserves in that area. On top of that, and most importantly, we have considered the reason Gorgon went to Barrow Island, which was the prospect of geosequestration, or reinjection, of carbon dioxide. We have insisted upon that as one of the conditions. It will become the biggest carbon dioxide reinjection project in the world. That reflects our commitment to doing something very significant about greenhouse gases, which is a world issue. The government will also expand the conservation reserve system - terrestrial and marine - to take account of the breeding areas of the flatback turtle in the lower west Kimberley and Pilbara. We will go through a process to ensure the survival and the prosperity of that species of turtle, and there will also be a range of incredibly tight conditions relating to quarantine and the like for access to Barrow Island. We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: I thank the member for Albany for the question. Members will be aware that this morning I determined the appeals on the Gorgon gas project and, in effect, have provided environmental approval for that project. This was not an easy decision to make. I made it on the basis of a range of factors, which I will go over very briefly. When the project came forward, a $40 million offset package of initiatives was offered to assist in environmental management, particularly in relation to Dirk Hartog Island. In addition, we have secured a further $60 million worth of commitments towards environmental initiatives to deal with issues related to the flatback turtles or some of the endemic species on Barrow Island and other environmental issues. That amounts to a $100 million commitment from that project towards environmental initiatives. In addition, this government has committed over $2.5 million towards management initiatives in the marine and terrestrial reserves in that area. On top of that, and most importantly, we have considered the reason Gorgon went to Barrow Island, which was the prospect of geosequestration, or reinjection, of carbon dioxide. We have insisted upon that as one of the conditions. It will become the biggest carbon dioxide reinjection project in the world. That reflects our commitment to doing something very significant about greenhouse gases, which is a world issue. The government will also expand the conservation reserve system - terrestrial and marine - to take account of the breeding areas of the flatback turtle in the lower west Kimberley and Pilbara. We will go through a process to ensure the survival and the prosperity of that species of turtle, and there will also be a range of incredibly tight conditions relating to quarantine and the like for access to Barrow Island. We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
I thank the member for Albany for the question. Members will be aware that this morning I determined the appeals on the Gorgon gas project and, in effect, have provided environmental approval for that project. This was not an easy decision to make. I made it on the basis of a range of factors, which I will go over very briefly. When the project came forward, a $40 million offset package of initiatives was offered to assist in environmental management, particularly in relation to Dirk Hartog Island. In addition, we have secured a further $60 million worth of commitments towards environmental initiatives to deal with issues related to the flatback turtles or some of the endemic species on Barrow Island and other environmental issues. That amounts to a $100 million commitment from that project towards environmental initiatives. In addition, this government has committed over $2.5 million towards management initiatives in the marine and terrestrial reserves in that area. On top of that, and most importantly, we have considered the reason Gorgon went to Barrow Island, which was the prospect of geosequestration, or reinjection, of carbon dioxide. We have insisted upon that as one of the conditions. It will become the biggest carbon dioxide reinjection project in the world. That reflects our commitment to doing something very significant about greenhouse gases, which is a world issue. The government will also expand the conservation reserve system - terrestrial and marine - to take account of the breeding areas of the flatback turtle in the lower west Kimberley and Pilbara. We will go through a process to ensure the survival and the prosperity of that species of turtle, and there will also be a range of incredibly tight conditions relating to quarantine and the like for access to Barrow Island. We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: I thank the member for Albany for the question. Members will be aware that this morning I determined the appeals on the Gorgon gas project and, in effect, have provided environmental approval for that project. This was not an easy decision to make. I made it on the basis of a range of factors, which I will go over very briefly. When the project came forward, a $40 million offset package of initiatives was offered to assist in environmental management, particularly in relation to Dirk Hartog Island. In addition, we have secured a further $60 million worth of commitments towards environmental initiatives to deal with issues related to the flatback turtles or some of the endemic species on Barrow Island and other environmental issues. That amounts to a $100 million commitment from that project towards environmental initiatives. In addition, this government has committed over $2.5 million towards management initiatives in the marine and terrestrial reserves in that area. On top of that, and most importantly, we have considered the reason Gorgon went to Barrow Island, which was the prospect of geosequestration, or reinjection, of carbon dioxide. We have insisted upon that as one of the conditions. It will become the biggest carbon dioxide reinjection project in the world. That reflects our commitment to doing something very significant about greenhouse gases, which is a world issue. The government will also expand the conservation reserve system - terrestrial and marine - to take account of the breeding areas of the flatback turtle in the lower west Kimberley and Pilbara. We will go through a process to ensure the survival and the prosperity of that species of turtle, and there will also be a range of incredibly tight conditions relating to quarantine and the like for access to Barrow Island. We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
I thank the member for Albany for the question. Members will be aware that this morning I determined the appeals on the Gorgon gas project and, in effect, have provided environmental approval for that project. This was not an easy decision to make. I made it on the basis of a range of factors, which I will go over very briefly. When the project came forward, a $40 million offset package of initiatives was offered to assist in environmental management, particularly in relation to Dirk Hartog Island. In addition, we have secured a further $60 million worth of commitments towards environmental initiatives to deal with issues related to the flatback turtles or some of the endemic species on Barrow Island and other environmental issues. That amounts to a $100 million commitment from that project towards environmental initiatives. In addition, this government has committed over $2.5 million towards management initiatives in the marine and terrestrial reserves in that area. On top of that, and most importantly, we have considered the reason Gorgon went to Barrow Island, which was the prospect of geosequestration, or reinjection, of carbon dioxide. We have insisted upon that as one of the conditions. It will become the biggest carbon dioxide reinjection project in the world. That reflects our commitment to doing something very significant about greenhouse gases, which is a world issue. The government will also expand the conservation reserve system - terrestrial and marine - to take account of the breeding areas of the flatback turtle in the lower west Kimberley and Pilbara. We will go through a process to ensure the survival and the prosperity of that species of turtle, and there will also be a range of incredibly tight conditions relating to quarantine and the like for access to Barrow Island. We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
We have shown that if government works and drives a hard bargain with industry, and looks at broader solutions to problems, it can come up with an outcome that is good for the environment and also, as we are aware, will mean that Western Australia will lead the world in geosequestration and, incidentally, will create thousands of jobs.
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