Member for Warringah Zali Steggall is set to reintroduce her Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Stop PEP 11 and Protect Our Coast) Private Members Bill to Federal Parliament, with the PEP 11 permit for offshore gas exploration now back in the spotlight.
With the Federal Government and Asset Energy agreeing recently to end a Federal Court challenge over former PM Scott Morrison’s refusal of a licence renewal, the permit will once more have to go through the process of being considered by the Joint Authority (comprising State and Federal governments).
“The Petroleum Exploration Permit 11 (PEP 11) application, which covers 4,500 square kilometres of ocean along NSW’s east coast from North Head National Park in Manly, through the Central Coast and as far as Newcastle, is destined to be reconsidered,” Steggall said.
“When the Bill was first introduced in November, 2021, Prime Minister Albanese, then in Opposition, stated: ‘We stood at Terrigal and made it very clear that we were opposed to PEP 11 … this is a bad proposal’.”
“The question now is, will the Albanese Government abandon our communities or Stop PEP 11 once and for all by supporting my Bill?”
Steggall said the key advantage to her Bill is that it provides a fast and simple resolution of the issue, with questions around the PEP 11 permit possibly set to continue for years.
She said that even with court proceedings wrapping up, it will still be some time before the application can be reconsidered.
And even then, assuming a decision to cancel the permit stands, the decision could be open to further legal challenges.
“It’s far better to legislate, because this will ensure that no future applications, for any reason, can be granted by the Joint Authority or Titles Administrator for the area covered by PEP11,” she said.
Steggall said without changes to the legislation, the Joint Authority’s decision could be subject to further review or challenge and questions around bias of decisions would remain given previous statements made by the Prime Minister and members of Government.
Further, even if a permit renewal were refused it would not rule out future applications being lodged for the PEP 11 area.
Terry Collins
selfish actions of siverspooners of coastal at the expense of australia