Mr CONLAN - 2016-04-20
Can the Chief Minster please update the House on the Northern Territory government’s stance on the onshore gas industry?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we support a highly-regulated onshore gas industry, which has operated since the 1960s and is still producing gas and jobs in Central Australia, but is being shaken with fear. The industry is concerned that, should Labor get in, everybody in that industry will lose their job and it will shut down. They are also in a state of confusion, led by the Labor opposition.
It is a state of confusion because the Labor policy is all over the shop. I remember when the Leader of the Opposition said he would make sure all well activities that have been approved would be allowed to continue, but then we heard the member for Barkly reading from the ALP conference documents, saying all production will stop immediately. Those are two contrasting views about the industry.
Syd Stirling, the President of the ALP, said it will definitely not be a five-year moratorium; the member for Johnston said it will be a two-year moratorium; the Leader of the Opposition said it will be a five-year moratorium, and the member for Nhulunbuy said it will be a two-and-a-half year moratorium. No wonder there is so much confusion. This is driving sovereign risk in the Northern Territory.
We support the industry. We support high regulation, protecting our environment, investment in the NT and jobs. We need to get back to some fundamentals about gas. They are just playing politics, which is not a real approach. I challenge the opposition members to talk to the media and explain their position, and I ask if they could survive without gas in the NT?
Could you survive without horizontal fracturing? It is driving down the cost of petrol around the world. It is the main reason the price of petrol has come down in the Northern Territory. Could you survive without gas to turn the lights on or power the electricity to run your computer or your iPad? Could you survive without petroleum products to make the plastic on the top of this jug or in this pen or this folder?
It is very easy to run a populist agenda, but the fact is we use fracked gas products on an everyday basis, whether we are cooking on our barbecues with gas, putting lipstick on – for those who wear lipstick – or any other product that is made from petroleum products. So, yes, this government supports gas production undertaken carefully with high degrees of environmental regulation. We support investment and jobs and we will never take a step back from that.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we support a highly-regulated onshore gas industry, which has operated since the 1960s and is still producing gas and jobs in Central Australia, but is being shaken with fear. The industry is concerned that, should Labor get in, everybody in that industry will lose their job and it will shut down. They are also in a state of confusion, led by the Labor opposition.
It is a state of confusion because the Labor policy is all over the shop. I remember when the Leader of the Opposition said he would make sure all well activities that have been approved would be allowed to continue, but then we heard the member for Barkly reading from the ALP conference documents, saying all production will stop immediately. Those are two contrasting views about the industry.
Syd Stirling, the President of the ALP, said it will definitely not be a five-year moratorium; the member for Johnston said it will be a two-year moratorium; the Leader of the Opposition said it will be a five-year moratorium, and the member for Nhulunbuy said it will be a two-and-a-half year moratorium. No wonder there is so much confusion. This is driving sovereign risk in the Northern Territory.
We support the industry. We support high regulation, protecting our environment, investment in the NT and jobs. We need to get back to some fundamentals about gas. They are just playing politics, which is not a real approach. I challenge the opposition members to talk to the media and explain their position, and I ask if they could survive without gas in the NT?
Could you survive without horizontal fracturing? It is driving down the cost of petrol around the world. It is the main reason the price of petrol has come down in the Northern Territory. Could you survive without gas to turn the lights on or power the electricity to run your computer or your iPad? Could you survive without petroleum products to make the plastic on the top of this jug or in this pen or this folder?
It is very easy to run a populist agenda, but the fact is we use fracked gas products on an everyday basis, whether we are cooking on our barbecues with gas, putting lipstick on – for those who wear lipstick – or any other product that is made from petroleum products. So, yes, this government supports gas production undertaken carefully with high degrees of environmental regulation. We support investment and jobs and we will never take a step back from that.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016