Woodside's environmental plan for $12b project ‘corporate puffery', court told
They also say Woodside's submissions to court misinterpret the Australian offshore regulator NOPSEMA's reasons for granting the approval.
The Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne on Monday began hearings into Doctors for the Environment Australia's legal challenge to the $12 billion project, part of the company's Burrup Hub plan.
It involves tapping the field off Western Australia's north-west coast and running the gas through a 430-kilometre pipeline to its onshore Pluto plant.
The Environmental Defenders Office's Chris Young, KC, argued on behalf of the doctors' group that Woodside's court submission misinterpreted NOPSEMA's reasons for approval in suggesting the regulator considered Scarborough's projected emissions negligible to its assessment.
Woodside's environmental plan estimates Scarborough's total emissions across its life would be 878 million tonnes, equalling 0.37 per cent of the world's remaining carbon budget for a 1.5-degree warming scenario, and that its emissions within Australia would make up 0.9 per cent of Australia's remaining emissions budget to 2030.
Young told Judge Shaun McElwaine Woodside's environmental plan contained statements to the effect that emissions associated with Scarborough could not be linked to climate change impacts to the environment.
'NOPSEMA has not accepted this claim previously,' he said, citing a letter from the regulator to Woodside stating such a view was 'unsupported', especially given Woodside's ability to calculate Scarborough's expected emissions as a 'clear and measurable contribution' to Australia's total.
'The environmental plan should establish the context of Scarborough emissions, established emissions budgets, and clearly acknowledge the linear relationship between emissions and global warming,' the letter had said.
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ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Tax big businesses that don't invest in new technology, science body argues
Billions of dollars in incentives to get Australian businesses to invest in innovation have not shifted a low level of research and development (R&D). Having tried a carrot, one of the nation's top scientific bodies wants to try the stick: whacking big business with a levy if they don't invest a minimum amount in R&D. 'Research and development underinvestment by both government and business had been long term and is now intolerable," said Anna-Maria Arabia, chief executive at the Australian Academy of Science. As the government searches for ideas to boost the nation's flagging productivity and economic growth, the Australian Academy of Science is calling for a rebatable levy on businesses with annual revenue of more than $100 million. The idea is to force them to spend up on R&D — say 0.25 per cent or 0.5 per cent of their revenue — or cop a levy equal to that, with the money invested by the government in innovation. The academy is arguing that a massive boost in research and development is needed to boost productivity. "It's not just me saying it, it's the Treasury, it's the Productivity Commission," said Ms Arabia, who blasted the complacency of Australian businesses. And it is not just them either. The Lowy Institute's Jenny Gordon was chief economist at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and supports the push to fund R&D more effectively. "I don't know whether I'd call it a stick, I mean, you could also call it an incentive scheme," she said. "This is an alternative way to say, 'Well, we need to raise funding, reliable funding for R&D'. So that is not at the whim of government and whatever the budget decides to allocate. Australia spends vastly less than similar nations on R&D. In 2023, the Productivity Commission wrote that Australian businesses were not "keeping pace" with innovation. Prior to the pandemic, the Harvard Growth Lab Atlas of Economic Complexity ranked Australia 93rd in terms of the complexity of its economy. At the time that was lagging Kazakhstan, Uganda and Senegal, and only just ahead of Pakistan and Mali. The academy, an organisation representing Australia's top research scientists, argues sustained underinvestment by the business sector means there is now a gap of $32.5 billion when compared with the OCED average (we spend 0.89 per cent of GDP, less than half the OECD average of 1.99 per cent). It is proposing the levy to push business to go harder on innovation: to secure the future of Australian business. "Our back is up against a wall now," Ms Arabia said. Professor Roy Green knows about the benefits of innovation, as a special innovation advisor at the University of Technology Sydney and on the board of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He believes Australian business has been coasting on the research done by tertiary institutions and government. What that means now, he says, is that we "have very poor productivity performance that the government is now trying to address … largely because of our failing research and development support system". The amount spent on R&D has fallen in all sectors: universities, public institutions and private businesses. "Public R&D barely makes a dent," Professor Green said. "And that's combined with a massive fall in business expenditure in R&D. The only institutions that are holding it up are universities, and that's only because of increased funding from overseas students — which we've just cut." Levies to push business to take up beneficial activities — such as the training guarantee in the 1990s — show it can be done, he added. The government's looming Economic Reform Roundtable will bring together business groups, unions, community sector representatives and experts in Canberra next month. Ahead of the event, groups like the academy are making suggestions for changes they would like to see, and submissions on what they see as key issues. The submission from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) was released before the suggestion by the academy to put a levy on business, and so does not include a response to it. What it does do is note how much we lag other nations and make suggestions for how to fix that. "This underperformance is closely tied to broader issues in the business environment, including weak private investment and an outdated tax and regulatory framework that discourages innovation," the ACCI submission noted. ACCI wants to see a long-term policy commitment and a clear strategy from Commonwealth and state governments. Among its recommendations are "refundable tax credits, direct grants, and concessional financing options" for small to medium-sized businesses and "stage-specific, low-interest government loans to support business R&D investment". Earlier this year, another business lobby group, the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), welcomed a government discussion paper on R&D. "We must fundamentally re-imagine Australia's R&D strategy as a dynamic, responsive system that recognises industry isn't just a vehicle for commercialising R&D developed elsewhere," Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said at the time. "To put it simply, the current system is not working in Australia's interests." The group reiterated what the paper suggested, that R&D-intensive businesses demonstrate stronger jobs growth and resilience in uncertain times. "R&D investment is not merely an academic exercise but a crucial driver of national prosperity," Mr Willox said, calling for a radical push to boost the field. "Everything must be on the table. There can be no sacred cows. "Simply calling for R&D spending to reach 3 per cent of GDP [gross domestic product] isn't enough. As a start, we must address fundamental issues around commercialising public sector research and how to strengthen industry-research collaboration." As the roundtable approaches and more big ideas are thrown out, the future structure of R&D could be undergoing development of its own.

ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
What does lifting trade restrictions on US beef mean for Australia?
It might not be on our plates or menus just yet, but US beef has been a hot topic of conversation across the nation after this week's decision to lift import restrictions that had been in place for more than two decades. Australia banned beef imports from the US in 2003 after the fatal neurological disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, was discovered in American cattle. The blanket ban was lifted in 2019, however restrictions remained on beef that was sourced from Canada or Mexico and slaughtered in the US, amid concerns it could carry the disease. "The Americans were unwilling to … do the traceability work to make sure that beef that was coming to Australia wasn't actually rebranded from somewhere else," veterinarian and former NSW Farmers Association president, James Jackson, said. "We don't want foot and mouth disease in this country, we don't want our consumers to eat beef and get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is the disease you get from eating cattle with mad cow disease." While some in the industry were optimistic that lifting the restrictions would open up trade opportunities for Australian producers, others raised concerns that Australia's biosecurity could be compromised. The federal government said the move was the result of a decade-long biosecurity review that found more robust movement controls had been introduced in the US. "The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is satisfied the strengthened control measures put in place by the US effectively manage biosecurity risks," Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said. "The Albanese Labor government will never compromise on biosecurity." Nationals leader David Littleproud questioned the timing of the decision, saying it looked as though it was a trade to appease US President Donald Trump. The biosecurity restrictions on beef imports from the United States were one of the key grievances that led the Trump administration to impose tariffs on Australia. Red Meat Advisory Council chair John McKillop said while the decision may have been pushed through "slightly quicker" than expected, he was confident it was the result of a long-running assessment. Global AgriTrends analyst Simon Quilty said the risk of US beef imports introducing diseases to Australia was now much lower. "They have improved their traceability methods within America and I think, in all honesty, that the degree of risk is significantly low," he said. Mr McKillop said any risk would also be mitigated by the limited amount of beef Australia was likely to import from the US. "They have the lowest beef herd in 70 years in the US at the moment [due to drought]," he said. "The most [beef] that was ever brought in, and this was pre-BSE … was 210 tonnes … in contrast to the 395,000 tonnes we exported to the US last year." Mr McKillop said the US was also experiencing near-record beef and cattle prices, and it was unlikely Australians would want to pay high prices for their product. While the amount of beef coming into Australia from the US may be limited, Mr Jackson said there could be a market for it. "There may be some lines [of product] come into Australia, people who want to sell American beef on a restaurant menu or something like that," he said. Mr Jackson said Australia must be open to accepting American beef if it wanted to maintain a trade relationship with the US. "Part of a trade deal is that you're willing to take product from other countries," he said. "Are we happy with Australian consumers eating American beef? Well, probably we're not that happy, but the reality is that if you trade, you've got to be happy to take other people's product as well." The trade restriction on US beef has been a key grievance for the Trump administration, which placed a 10 per cent tariff on all Australian imports earlier this year. Professor Ben Lyons, from the University of Southern Queensland's Rural Economies Centre of Excellence, said it was difficult to know how the move would impact that tariff. "Nothing would surprise us at the moment because that's the new paradigm under the Trump administration — full of surprises," he said. Dr Lyons said he was confident the Australian beef industry would maintain a strong export market, regardless of US-imposed tariffs. "If past performance is the best indicator of the future, we always seem to find a way with our export markets," he said. "Even the announcement of this tariff on Australian beef at the beginning of the year hasn't really had any economic impact as yet on our exports. "I think we should just carry on calmly and do what we do best. I don't really see this as being a long-term issue for Australian agriculture."


The Advertiser
28 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Chery wants to Australianise its cars to make them appeal to Americans
Chery, in its current state, may have only been operating in Australia since 2023, but a global executive says the feedback of Australians could help the brand's cars see success in the United States down the line. Locally, Chery has enjoyed substantial growth in its first few years. To the end of June 2025, the brand had recorded a whopping 228.8 per cent increase in sales from the same period in 2024, the largest of any brand – even the hard-charging BYD. This success has provided Chery with a wealth of feedback and guidance on how to improve its vehicles, with brand chief engineer David Xianqiang Lu telling CarExpert that the lessons learned can also help prepare it for potential future efforts in countries like the US. "From any point of view, the Australian market is very, very important, and that's a reason to come here and try and start in the market," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. ABOVE: Chery Himla "We consider at least two directions right now. One is, in my opinion, that the user here, and the user conditions here, are very close to the USA market. "That's our next target where we want to go, I don't know whether that's the right words or not, but that's our ambition." The US market is uncharted territory for Chinese brands. Efforts to stop Chinese cars from infiltrating its market have led the US Government to impose substantial tariffs on vehicles from the country, which means there are currently no Chinese brands operating in the US, though there are Chinese-owned ones such as Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. A 100 per cent tariff was slugged on Chinese EVs in 2024, followed by reciprocal tariffs imposed on the US by China. Despite that, brands like Chery are planning for the US' stance to soften in the coming years, opening the door for expanded global operations. ABOVE: Chery E5 "I know there are a lot of issues there, but that's a different story. 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For us, in China right now it's summer, very hot, here it's winter," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "Australia also has some mountain area with snow and these kinds of things; we can test a vehicle here. Working together, leveraging global resources, we can further speed up our development process." Any local development undertaken by Chery would follow similar efforts from other Chinese brands, including GWM, which recently hired former Holden handling tuner Rob Trubiani to spearhead local development efforts. Non-Chinese brands like Ford, Kia and Mitsubishi are also heavily involved in Australian vehicle tuning. ABOVE: Chery Tiggo 8 Additionally, Mr Lu outlined feedback received from Australian customers and media was always relayed to Chery's head office in China, which has informed the development of new models and tech, as well as updates for its existing lineup. "Also the user here is different. I remember the first article I saw was from [CarExpert], the gentleman wrote about Chery's vehicle, he mentioned that the vehicle tuning and handling was not that good, suspension not that good," he told CarExpert. "We really take a lot of comments, and try to [improve] that. That's another thing, we really let the local experts help us tune the vehicle, maybe even special versions." MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: Chery, in its current state, may have only been operating in Australia since 2023, but a global executive says the feedback of Australians could help the brand's cars see success in the United States down the line. Locally, Chery has enjoyed substantial growth in its first few years. To the end of June 2025, the brand had recorded a whopping 228.8 per cent increase in sales from the same period in 2024, the largest of any brand – even the hard-charging BYD. This success has provided Chery with a wealth of feedback and guidance on how to improve its vehicles, with brand chief engineer David Xianqiang Lu telling CarExpert that the lessons learned can also help prepare it for potential future efforts in countries like the US. "From any point of view, the Australian market is very, very important, and that's a reason to come here and try and start in the market," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. ABOVE: Chery Himla "We consider at least two directions right now. One is, in my opinion, that the user here, and the user conditions here, are very close to the USA market. "That's our next target where we want to go, I don't know whether that's the right words or not, but that's our ambition." The US market is uncharted territory for Chinese brands. Efforts to stop Chinese cars from infiltrating its market have led the US Government to impose substantial tariffs on vehicles from the country, which means there are currently no Chinese brands operating in the US, though there are Chinese-owned ones such as Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. A 100 per cent tariff was slugged on Chinese EVs in 2024, followed by reciprocal tariffs imposed on the US by China. Despite that, brands like Chery are planning for the US' stance to soften in the coming years, opening the door for expanded global operations. ABOVE: Chery E5 "I know there are a lot of issues there, but that's a different story. As a company and an engineer, we are looking for the markets where we want to go," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "I believe the Australian market can help us learn a lot about the USA market. We've mentioned about a [pickup], with important towing capacities, which are also very big in USA market, so we can learn a lot." Indeed, Chery has been developing new utes for some time, after earlier efforts like the Karry Higgo and Aika were phased out. It revealed a new ute, the Himla, at this year's Shanghai auto show, and it's understood several others are waiting in the wings – including a yet-to-be-revealed plug-in hybrid (PHEV) expected to come to Australia. ABOVE: The F700 ute, from the Chery-owned Jetour brand. It seems Australia could serve as a test bed for these vehicles, which will undoubtedly vary in size, powertrains, and construction (i.e. body-on-frame or unibody), to prove their worth before being shipped elsewhere. "The other thing is the geographical position, this off-season. For us, in China right now it's summer, very hot, here it's winter," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "Australia also has some mountain area with snow and these kinds of things; we can test a vehicle here. Working together, leveraging global resources, we can further speed up our development process." Any local development undertaken by Chery would follow similar efforts from other Chinese brands, including GWM, which recently hired former Holden handling tuner Rob Trubiani to spearhead local development efforts. Non-Chinese brands like Ford, Kia and Mitsubishi are also heavily involved in Australian vehicle tuning. ABOVE: Chery Tiggo 8 Additionally, Mr Lu outlined feedback received from Australian customers and media was always relayed to Chery's head office in China, which has informed the development of new models and tech, as well as updates for its existing lineup. "Also the user here is different. I remember the first article I saw was from [CarExpert], the gentleman wrote about Chery's vehicle, he mentioned that the vehicle tuning and handling was not that good, suspension not that good," he told CarExpert. "We really take a lot of comments, and try to [improve] that. That's another thing, we really let the local experts help us tune the vehicle, maybe even special versions." MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: Chery, in its current state, may have only been operating in Australia since 2023, but a global executive says the feedback of Australians could help the brand's cars see success in the United States down the line. Locally, Chery has enjoyed substantial growth in its first few years. To the end of June 2025, the brand had recorded a whopping 228.8 per cent increase in sales from the same period in 2024, the largest of any brand – even the hard-charging BYD. This success has provided Chery with a wealth of feedback and guidance on how to improve its vehicles, with brand chief engineer David Xianqiang Lu telling CarExpert that the lessons learned can also help prepare it for potential future efforts in countries like the US. "From any point of view, the Australian market is very, very important, and that's a reason to come here and try and start in the market," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. ABOVE: Chery Himla "We consider at least two directions right now. One is, in my opinion, that the user here, and the user conditions here, are very close to the USA market. "That's our next target where we want to go, I don't know whether that's the right words or not, but that's our ambition." The US market is uncharted territory for Chinese brands. Efforts to stop Chinese cars from infiltrating its market have led the US Government to impose substantial tariffs on vehicles from the country, which means there are currently no Chinese brands operating in the US, though there are Chinese-owned ones such as Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. A 100 per cent tariff was slugged on Chinese EVs in 2024, followed by reciprocal tariffs imposed on the US by China. Despite that, brands like Chery are planning for the US' stance to soften in the coming years, opening the door for expanded global operations. ABOVE: Chery E5 "I know there are a lot of issues there, but that's a different story. As a company and an engineer, we are looking for the markets where we want to go," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "I believe the Australian market can help us learn a lot about the USA market. We've mentioned about a [pickup], with important towing capacities, which are also very big in USA market, so we can learn a lot." Indeed, Chery has been developing new utes for some time, after earlier efforts like the Karry Higgo and Aika were phased out. It revealed a new ute, the Himla, at this year's Shanghai auto show, and it's understood several others are waiting in the wings – including a yet-to-be-revealed plug-in hybrid (PHEV) expected to come to Australia. ABOVE: The F700 ute, from the Chery-owned Jetour brand. It seems Australia could serve as a test bed for these vehicles, which will undoubtedly vary in size, powertrains, and construction (i.e. body-on-frame or unibody), to prove their worth before being shipped elsewhere. "The other thing is the geographical position, this off-season. For us, in China right now it's summer, very hot, here it's winter," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "Australia also has some mountain area with snow and these kinds of things; we can test a vehicle here. Working together, leveraging global resources, we can further speed up our development process." Any local development undertaken by Chery would follow similar efforts from other Chinese brands, including GWM, which recently hired former Holden handling tuner Rob Trubiani to spearhead local development efforts. Non-Chinese brands like Ford, Kia and Mitsubishi are also heavily involved in Australian vehicle tuning. ABOVE: Chery Tiggo 8 Additionally, Mr Lu outlined feedback received from Australian customers and media was always relayed to Chery's head office in China, which has informed the development of new models and tech, as well as updates for its existing lineup. "Also the user here is different. I remember the first article I saw was from [CarExpert], the gentleman wrote about Chery's vehicle, he mentioned that the vehicle tuning and handling was not that good, suspension not that good," he told CarExpert. "We really take a lot of comments, and try to [improve] that. That's another thing, we really let the local experts help us tune the vehicle, maybe even special versions." MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: Chery, in its current state, may have only been operating in Australia since 2023, but a global executive says the feedback of Australians could help the brand's cars see success in the United States down the line. Locally, Chery has enjoyed substantial growth in its first few years. To the end of June 2025, the brand had recorded a whopping 228.8 per cent increase in sales from the same period in 2024, the largest of any brand – even the hard-charging BYD. This success has provided Chery with a wealth of feedback and guidance on how to improve its vehicles, with brand chief engineer David Xianqiang Lu telling CarExpert that the lessons learned can also help prepare it for potential future efforts in countries like the US. "From any point of view, the Australian market is very, very important, and that's a reason to come here and try and start in the market," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. ABOVE: Chery Himla "We consider at least two directions right now. One is, in my opinion, that the user here, and the user conditions here, are very close to the USA market. "That's our next target where we want to go, I don't know whether that's the right words or not, but that's our ambition." The US market is uncharted territory for Chinese brands. Efforts to stop Chinese cars from infiltrating its market have led the US Government to impose substantial tariffs on vehicles from the country, which means there are currently no Chinese brands operating in the US, though there are Chinese-owned ones such as Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. A 100 per cent tariff was slugged on Chinese EVs in 2024, followed by reciprocal tariffs imposed on the US by China. Despite that, brands like Chery are planning for the US' stance to soften in the coming years, opening the door for expanded global operations. ABOVE: Chery E5 "I know there are a lot of issues there, but that's a different story. As a company and an engineer, we are looking for the markets where we want to go," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "I believe the Australian market can help us learn a lot about the USA market. We've mentioned about a [pickup], with important towing capacities, which are also very big in USA market, so we can learn a lot." Indeed, Chery has been developing new utes for some time, after earlier efforts like the Karry Higgo and Aika were phased out. It revealed a new ute, the Himla, at this year's Shanghai auto show, and it's understood several others are waiting in the wings – including a yet-to-be-revealed plug-in hybrid (PHEV) expected to come to Australia. ABOVE: The F700 ute, from the Chery-owned Jetour brand. It seems Australia could serve as a test bed for these vehicles, which will undoubtedly vary in size, powertrains, and construction (i.e. body-on-frame or unibody), to prove their worth before being shipped elsewhere. "The other thing is the geographical position, this off-season. For us, in China right now it's summer, very hot, here it's winter," Mr Lu told CarExpert. "Australia also has some mountain area with snow and these kinds of things; we can test a vehicle here. Working together, leveraging global resources, we can further speed up our development process." Any local development undertaken by Chery would follow similar efforts from other Chinese brands, including GWM, which recently hired former Holden handling tuner Rob Trubiani to spearhead local development efforts. Non-Chinese brands like Ford, Kia and Mitsubishi are also heavily involved in Australian vehicle tuning. ABOVE: Chery Tiggo 8 Additionally, Mr Lu outlined feedback received from Australian customers and media was always relayed to Chery's head office in China, which has informed the development of new models and tech, as well as updates for its existing lineup. "Also the user here is different. I remember the first article I saw was from [CarExpert], the gentleman wrote about Chery's vehicle, he mentioned that the vehicle tuning and handling was not that good, suspension not that good," he told CarExpert. "We really take a lot of comments, and try to [improve] that. That's another thing, we really let the local experts help us tune the vehicle, maybe even special versions." MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: