Roger Cook to urge Anthony Albanese to prioritise reforms environmental approval laws at Perth Cabinet

Premier Roger Cook is expected to urge the Prime Minister to prioritise reforms to Australia’s environmental approvals system during Federal Cabinet’s meeting in Perth on Tuesday. The pressure follows the drawn-out assessment process for Woodside’s proposed extension of the North West Shelf project to 2070, which took six years to secure approval. Murray Watt had given his conditional approval to the project of WA’s northern coast on Wednesday and is expected to join meetings in the west when Anthony Albanese brings his Cabinet to Perth. “Having the right policy settings is important for investment,” a spokesman for Premier Roger Cook told The West Australian. “The Cook Government will continue to work closely with the Prime Minister to ensure Western Australia benefits.” Cook Government Minister Sabine Winton said hosting Cabinet in Perth underscores the State’s importance to the national agenda. “I’m really looking forward to the Albanese government coming to Western Australia. It reaffirms how important they view Western Australia,” she said on Sunday. Mr Cook will attend the meeting and is also expected to advocate for economic diversification, secured infrastructure investment, and protections for Western Australia’s GST revenue. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen reiterated on Sunday that the North West Shelf project would be required under the safeguard mechanism to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. “More than 200 facilities covered by the safeguard mechanism are obliged to have a pathway to net zero,” he said. “It (the North West Shelf project) is already obliged to be reducing its net emissions today, and it is.” Mr Bowen noted Woodside’s project already has multiple pathways to reduce emissions under its current obligations, including on-site emissions abatement, buying offsets if they don’t reduce emissions, and investing in emissions reduction technologies. “We’ve always said gas has a role to play for Australia and the world. It’s a flexible, firming support for renewable energy,” Mr Bowen said. “We have to take an approach here which reflects the realities, but also does not for a second, step away from our obligations or our ambitions.” He said the same would apply for any future advancement on the nearby Browse Basin gas field. “Browse will be covered by all our existing domestic legislation and requirements,” he said. “There’s connections (to the North West Shelf), but it is 900 kilometers away. They’re quite separate matters. “It has its own challenges to overcome, both in terms of economics and and environmental approvals.” He also insisted that the approval of the North West Shelf development would not undermine Australia’s bid to host a major international climate conference, COP31, in partnership with Pacific nations next year. Mr Bowen said that Australia remains on track to meet its 82 per cent renewables goal by 2030 to reduce emissions despite only reaching 43 per cent. But he admitted improvements were needed around project approvals. “We’re making good progress. There (has been) 15 gigawatts added since we came to office. That’s three Snowy Hydro schemes added in capacity,” he told ABC on Sunday. “On planning approvals, yeah we are continuing to work on that. “We can continue to be on track, facing headwinds and challenges from time to time of course, but we’re seeing very strong investment figures.” National Cabinet travelling to Perth will mark Mr Cook’s second opportunity to demand swifter action on reforming environmental laws after the Senator Watt travelled to Perth just a fortnight into his new role as Environment Minister. The Prime Minister’s trip west comes on a multi-State tour after attending NSW flood zone and Brisbane last week and Tasmania on Sunday. After his trip to Perth, the Mr Albanese also expected to tour drought affected areas in South Australia next week.