SYDNEY/PERTH, Friday, 12 September 2025 — Greenpeace Australia Pacific has slammed the Albanese government’s approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension as a betrayal of Australian and Pacific communities facing worsening climate impacts, and urged the government to stop favouring fossil fuel corporations and start protecting the people who voted them in.
The Federal Government has today finalised approval of Woodside’s proposal to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas processing facility to 2070, with 48 conditions.
This decision brings Woodside’s dangerous plans to drill for gas at Scott Reef one step closer to reality, and recklessly flouts the scientific consensus that new fossil fuels are incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Woodside’s plans to continue processing gas till 2070 and drill for gas at Scott Reef are grotesque. They risk the destruction of one of Australia’s largest freestanding oceanic coral reefs, and would contribute to climate disaster. Today’s approval erodes the climate credibility of the Albanese government at a moment when it is already on thin ice.
“There is no place for new fossil fuels in the global push to limit global warming to 1.5°C—our best bet for securing a safe future for Australian and Pacific communities who already face worsening bushfires, floods, sea level rise, and cyclones.
“Limiting global heating is fundamental to securing a safer future for people, wildlife, and all that we love. There can’t be a Jekyll and Hyde approach–the Albanese government’s ambitious renewable energy agenda does not excuse glaring inaction on fossil fuel expansion.
“We need urgent action to slash climate pollution. As the Albanese government prepares its 2035 emissions reduction target, it must heed the best available science—which recommends a target of net zero by 2035. Limiting warming to 1.5°C will also require the government to deliver a clear, time-bound plan for a fossil fuel phase-out.
“Prime Minister Albanese needs to remember that he is ultimately answerable to the Australian electorate and to our regional family—not to the fossil fuel corporations that are paying stuff-all tax and trousering the profits, while making a mess of the country that we all love.
“With Australia bidding to co-host COP31 with the Pacific in 2026, it is more essential than ever that the Albanese government delivers credible climate policy that prioritises a safe, liveable future above fossil fuel profits.
“The Prime Minister is dangerously close to breaking Labor’s election promise of strong climate action and environmental protection, losing the goodwill of Pacific neighbours, and sinking Labor’s legacy as the party that delivered globally significant environmental protection, including protecting the Great Barrier Reef and Antarctica from industrial exploitation.
“Since the Albanese government came into power in 2022, we have already witnessed climate disasters that have upended the lives of Australian and Pacific communities, and record bleaching on our precious Great Barrier and Ningaloo Reefs. The forthcoming National Climate Risk Assessment will predict even more dire impacts under scenarios of climate inaction.”
-ENDS-
For more information or interviews, please contact Vai Shah on 0452 290 082 or [email protected], or Kimberley Bernard on 0407 581 404 or [email protected]
Images of Scott Reef and Woodside’s North West Shelf facility can be found here
