It would also be a disaster for the climate and devastate priceless Indigenous rock art.

Woodside estimates the extension will add over 90 million tonnes of emissions to the atmosphere every year and 4.3 billion tonnes over its lifetime, making a mockery of the state – and nation’s – net zero ambitions.

WA Labor’s decision to stop regulation of emissions for large projects will help clear the way for Woodside’s extension.

The facility also produces acid gas emissions that are corroding the World Heritage nominated Murujuga rock art, one of the world’s most important cultural heritage sites.

Woodside doesn’t have sufficient offshore gas to feed the North West Shelf export capacity, and is increasingly exporting WA’s domestic gas reserves to feed it, depleting WA’s finite domestic reserves and exposing Western Australians to high global prices.

The decision to approve the extension will:

• Add up to 90 million tonnes of emissions to the atmosphere annually, 4.3 billion tonnes over its lifetime.
• Continue degrading the World Heritage nominated Murujuga rock art from acid gas emissions.
• Deplete WA’s finite onshore domestic gas reserves.
• Expose the WA domestic gas market to high global gas prices for decades, increasing gas prices for households and industry.
• Drive the cost of producing electricity in WA’s highly gas dependent grid.
• Provide little economic benefit to Western Australians.

“Woodside’s North West Shelf extension is one of the largest proposed gas projects in the world. Approving it will make WA and the rest of the world hotter and drier, and make floods and other disasters more frequent and extreme,’ said Mark Ogge, Principal Adviser at The Australia Institute.

“The spectacular Murujuga rock is one of the world’s most important cultural heritage sites. It is five times as old as the pyramids and eight times older than Stonehenge. It is an outrage that Woodside are being allowed destroy it with acid gas emissions from NWS.

“Woodside is running out of offshore gas and now it’s coming for WA’s domestic gas reserves. This will expose Western Australian households, businesses and taxpayers to high global gas prices and drive up electricity prices.

“The WA Government is meant to represent the interests of Western Australians, not multinational oil and gas corporations trying to export as much of our gas as they can price gouge us for the gas they do supply.”