August 22, 2024
The Senate Inquiry into the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct handed down its final report today, issuing a damning indictment of the project, its impacts, and the integrity of its implementation.
The Middle Arm Industrial Precinct has been plagued by controversy ever since the announcement of $1.5 billion in Commonwealth Government equity support for the project.
Hundreds of Territorians gathered in April when the Middle Arm Senate Inquiry convened in Darwin. Traditional Owners, scientists, doctors, nurses, teachers and unions gave evidence regarding the potential impacts of the project to cultural heritage, the environment of Darwin Harbour, human health, and climate.
Today, those concerns have been vindicated by many of the recommendations issued by the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee.
Key takeaways from the report include:
- Senator David Pocock has called for an investigation into the circumstances in which the $1.5 billion Federal funding commitment was obtained, pointing to “significant questions around integrity and transparency” and evidence that the commitment was made without evidence of “clear value for money and without a proper evaluation of the significant risks.” Similarly, the Greens have asserted that the Federal decision to subsidise the project was “was based purely on pork-barrelling and dodgy deals and not the best interests of the local community or the planet.”
- The Greens expressed serious concern about the health impacts of the proposed project, noting that NT regulators “cannot be relied upon to enforce safety regulations to protect the health of the Darwin community”. Senator Pocock also asserted that “the NT’s health system cannot cope with any worsening of health or conditions for residents of the NT,” and that evidence that the project “would not have an adverse impact on the health of Darwin residents was thin”.
- Senator Lidia Thorpe found that “there has been a real lack of genuine consultation and a disregard for the need to obtain Free, Prior and Informed Consent”. This sentiment was echoed by the Greens and Senator Pocock, who both made recommendations to ensure free, prior, and informed consent is central to any future development at the Middle Arm peninsula.
Kirsty Howey, Executive Director of the Environment Centre NT says:
“The Middle Arm gas hub simply cannot proceed, based on what was revealed in this inquiry and what has now been recommended in its report.
“This report confirms what the community has been saying for a long time — the Middle Arm gas hub poses unacceptable risks to the wellbeing of Territorians, our climate, and our harbour.
“The shocking information revealed by the inquiry should make it clear to the Federal Government that their $1.5 billion subsidy must be redirected away from the Middle Arm gas hub. Evidence submitted to the Inquiry showed that we can spend this money here in the NT in a way that doesn’t sacrifice people’s wellbeing and will actually create more sustainable jobs.”
For enquiries contact Elliot Hughes 0413 740 016 elliot.hughes@ecnt.org
Also available for comment:
Tom Quinn, author of the Recharging the Territory report and inquiry witness. Ph 0400515726
Dr Louise Woodward, NT Paediatrician and inquiry witness. Ph 0405 531 576
Background
The project
The Middle Arm gas and petrochemical precinct – if it goes ahead – will be the biggest industrial development in Darwin’s history. Despite the NT Government previously deleting the word ‘petrochemicals’ from all government websites, documents submitted to the environmental regulator and Infrastructure Australia by the NT Government confirm that the precinct would consist predominately of gas processing and petrochemical industries. The full list of industries included in the referral are: a carbon capture and storage (CCS) common user hub, an LNG train, blue hydrogen, green hydrogen, ammonia export plant, methanol export plant, condensate refinery, phosphoric acid production facility, ethane cracker, urea, and lithium hydroxide processing.
Documents revealed last year showed that the Albanese Government was aware that the precinct would be a “key enabler” for fracking in the Beetaloo basin when it announced a $1.5 billion subsidy for the precinct, given in the form of an equity investment.
The Petroni Report into the proposed Middle Arm development found a range of health risks associated with the proposed petrochemical development so close to nearby populations in Palmerston and Darwin.
What was learned from the inquiry
The Senate Inquiry was announced in September 2023 following a series of controversies regarding the proposed development in Darwin Harbour.
More than 200 submissions were made in the initial phase of the inquiry, the vast majority of which opposed the development of the Industrial Precinct and called for the federal funding to be redirected.
Inquiry hearings took place in Darwin and Canberra in April and June of this year, hearing from a range of witnesses including Traditional Owners, environmentalists, scientists, academics, tourism operators, doctors, unionists, nurses, teachers, students, and local residents, as well as the Northern Territory Government, regulator, and gas industry representatives.
Issues that were raised throughout the inquiry include concerns raised by Larrakia Traditional Owners about poor consultation and threats to country and culture. Academics and environmentalists spoke to the integrity of the project’s planning and funding, including the way in which the NTG hired gas industry lobbyists to obtain federal funding. Explosive documents were tabled that revealed major cost blowouts for the project and an extremely marginal cost-benefit ratio, as well as a dubious calculation of the project’s very viability.
Doctors, nurses, and health professionals gave evidence about the health impacts of the project, including the capacity of the Northern Territory’s environmental monitoring program to monitor risks and the preparedness of the health system to respond to an increased disease burden.
The impacts of the project on marine and terrestrial ecological values, and the economic activities with which they are associated was discussed by ecologists, who warned that further industrialisation of the harbour could worsen the observed decline in marine species.
Further information
- A copy of the report can be read here
- Environment Centre NT’s submission to the Senate Inquiry here.
- A transcript of the inquiry is available on the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct website