Latest news with #BeetalooBasin
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tamboran Resources (TBN) Closes First Tranche of Private Investment Public Equity (PIPE)
Tamboran Resources Corporation (NYSE:TBN) is one of the 7 Best ASX Stocks to Buy Now. It closed the first tranche of its previously announced Private Investment Public Equity (PIPE) of common stock in order to finance the ongoing drilling activities to reach plateau production from the proposed SS Pilot Project. Tamboran Resources Corporation (NYSE:TBN) anticipates receiving gross proceeds of ~US$55.4 million upon closing of the second tranche of the PIPE, prior to deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses. An industrial facility emitting natural gas from large pipes, with workers in the foreground. Pursuant to the closing of the first tranche, Tamboran Resources Corporation (NYSE:TBN) issued 2,180,515 shares of common stock at US$17.74 per share to garner ~US$38.7 million. The funds from the private placement will be used for drilling the remaining 3 wells required for the company's proposed 40 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) Pilot Project at the Shenandoah South location in the Beetaloo Basin to reach first production. This is planned for mid-2026, however, it is subject to weather and standard stakeholder approvals. Furthermore, the funds will be used for the financing of the Sturt Plateau Compression Facility until Tamboran and DWE finalize terms with lenders. Tamboran Resources Corporation (NYSE:TBN) is a natural gas company that is focused on developing unconventional gas resources in the Northern Territory of Australia. While we acknowledge the potential of TBN to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TBN and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 13 Cheap AI Stocks to Buy According to Analysts and 11 Unstoppable Growth Stocks to Invest in Now Disclosure: None.
The Guardian
27-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Calls for ‘urgent' investigation into lobbying activities of fracking advocate and gas company
Federal and Northern Territory MPs have called on the Albanese government to investigate concerns raised about the consulting activities of Good Advice and its client, the gas company Empire Energy. Independent senators Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock, as well as the federal and Northern Territory Greens, have called for an 'urgent' investigation after a story by Guardian Australia based on a major leak of Northern Land Council files, correspondence and recordings. The leaked files contain claims that traditional owners were offered financial benefits if they agreed to let Empire Energy sell 'appraisal gas' – which is gas collected during the exploration phase – from its Carpentaria pilot project in the Beetaloo basin. They also reveal serious concerns among traditional owners and bureaucrats about the lobbying activities of Empire Energy, Good Advice and several members of the NLC's full council, who were employed as advisers by the consulting firm in an individual capacity. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Good Advice is a Darwin-based consulting firm whose sole director is Greg McDonald, a former NLC resources and energy branch manager. The company was registered in April 2023, shortly after McDonald left the land council, and its work involves helping gas companies navigate their relationships with traditional owners in the Top End. McDonald has recruited several members of the NLC's full council, which is made up of 83 Aboriginal councillors from the Top End. According to claims in the leaked material, Good Advice, on behalf of Empire Energy, hosted meetings with traditional owners, company executives and at least two NLC councillors in August 2024 that ran an agenda favourable to the gas company's aims and presented unrealistic promises of large royalties and other benefits. Traditional owners were allegedly told payments could be agreed privately with the gas company, outside the legislated land rights process overseen by the land council. The leaked material also included claims that signatures were gathered and attached to a letter to the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority urging the authority's chief executive, Benedict Scambary, to issue an authority certificate Empire required for working around sacred sites 'as soon as possible'. The letter contradicted earlier advice AAPA had been given from several of the signatories and when officials contacted some of the traditional owners to clarify their wishes they said they did not agree with the letter's contents. When Guardian Australia contacted Scambary, he said: 'The custodians were not aware of what they had signed, and were alarmed by the letter's denial of their concerns about cultural heritage.' According to the leaked material, one of the signatories thought he was merely signing an attendance sheet. Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, has previously asked questions in parliament about the relationship between Good Advice, the gas industry and some NLC councillors and whether there were potential conflicts of interest in those relationships. 'I have been asking about this issue in multiple Senate estimates and inquiries for over a year,' she said. 'Free, prior and informed consent is an important legal concept for First Peoples enshrined in international law – it means consultation must be free from any corporate influence. 'There must be a proper investigation into these matters so we can understand just how much of an influence gas companies have over First Peoples and our representative bodies, in the NT and elsewhere,' she said. 'If federal Labor prioritised First Peoples' rights over the interests of the fossil fuel industry, they would ensure that these matters get properly investigated and those responsible are held to account.' Pocock said the revelations were concerning and 'warrant close scrutiny'. 'The government should consider an investigation, or a referral to the National Anti‑Corruption Commission, to ensure that any questions about the integrity of these dealings are properly examined,' he said. 'Gas companies seeking to operate anywhere in Australia should be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. They must respect the consultation processes that protect communities and ensure benefits are shared fairly.' Greens leader and First Nations spokesperson, Larissa Waters, said the party supported calls from First Nations and environmental organisations for an investigation. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Rather than handing over taxpayer dollars to Empire Energy, the federal government should be supporting stakeholder calls for … the gas company and its consultants, Good Advice, to be investigated by our national corruption watchdog.' Kat McNamara, the Greens member for Nightcliff in the NT parliament, also called for an 'urgent' federal investigation. 'This exploitative industry cannot be trusted. Fracking cannot continue under these current conditions,' she said. 'Across the NT we continue to see the revolving door from government or statutory bodies to the private sector. To prevent community members from being taken advantage of, we must introduce stronger regulations.' Guardian Australia approached the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, for comment. An Empire Energy spokesperson told Guardian Australia the company has 'a long history of respectful engagement with traditional owners over the last decade'. He said it had held more than 30 on-country meetings and continued to consult traditional owners about current and future works. The company also rejected allegations put to it in a September 2024 letter by the NLC's chair, Matthew Ryan, that it was trying to 'circumvent processes under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act using consultants associated with Good Advice or Mr McDonald', including claims that Good Advice facilitated meetings for Empire and was 'attempting to pass off the meetings as Land Council meetings'. In a letter of reply to Ryan, Empire's managing director, Alex Underwood, said the company was not seeking to circumvent the Land Rights Act and had not engaged in private negotiations with traditional owners via Good Advice. He said traditional owners were informed at meetings he attended, and to the best of his knowledge at all other meetings, that their purpose was for information and discussion and they were not official meetings of the land council. Guardian Australia sent detailed questions to McDonald via email and post, to give him the opportunity to respond to the claims made about Good Advice's consulting work. He declined to reply. The NLC's chief executive, Yuseph Deen, said NLC councillors were considered 'part-time public officials' who often wore many hats and 'are entitled to engage in outside employment opportunities in an individual capacity'. He said the land council 'provides regular governance training for council members, to ensure that members are aware of their duty to declare and manage conflicts of interest appropriately'. 'When council members are engaged in an individual capacity, they are not authorised to speak for, or on behalf of, the NLC.' On Thursday, after formal consultations overseen by the NLC, Empire Energy announced traditional owners had consented to the sale of appraisal gas from its Carpentaria pilot project. Empire Energy recently changed its name to Beetaloo Energy. Do you know more? Email
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
The consulting firm allegedly offering private deals and collecting signatures to smooth way for Empire Energy gas sales
In late August 2024, a curious letter arrived at the Darwin office of Benedict Scambary, chief executive of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA). The correspondence was typed and written in corporate style but it was attached to four and a half pages of handwritten names and signatures of traditional land owners from across the Northern Territory's Top End. A name that Scambary recognised was written on the back of the envelope – William John, a Mudburra Jingili man. As the head of the NT agency responsible for protecting Aboriginal sacred sites, Scambary was familiar with many of the signatories' names. But what was unusual was the contents of the letter – it contradicted earlier advice AAPA had been given from several of the signatories regarding the protection of their cultural heritage. The letter asked Scambary to explain why AAPA had stopped processing an application by the gas company Empire Energy for an authority certificate it needed at the site of its Carpentaria pilot project, a fracking operation near Cape Crawford in the Beetaloo basin. Authority certificates set conditions for developers working on or near sacred sites in the NT and are mandatory before fracking projects can progress. Empire Energy's application for the Carpentaria project had been delayed after heritage concerns were raised by traditional owners. But the letter, which was leaked to Guardian Australia as part of a trove of documents from the Northern Land Council, asked Scambary to progress Empire Energy's certificate 'as soon as possible'. When the Guardian approached Scambary he said that after receiving the letter, AAPA staff felt it was necessary to contact the relevant traditional owners and custodians again, to clarify their positions. He said it emerged from those discussions that most of the signatures had been gathered at two meetings held in August by Empire Energy and a consulting firm called Good Advice. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email But when AAPA officials read the letter to some of the people whose names were attached to it, the traditional owners did not agree with its contents. 'The custodians were not aware of what they had signed, and were alarmed by the letter's denial of their concerns about cultural heritage,' Scambary said. The traditional owners AAPA spoke to did not deny they had signed the sheet of paper but they gave differing accounts of what they thought they were signing. According to the leaked material, one thought he was merely signing an attendance sheet. The purported sender of the letter, whose name appeared on the back of the envelope, also insists he did not send it. When the Guardian contacted John, he said: 'It wasn't [sent] by me.' On 15 August 2024, at an outback pub on the Carpentaria Highway called the Heartbreak Hotel, a meeting was held between traditional owners and Empire Energy. The gathering at the remote pit stop, where travellers share a drink on their long journeys across the Top End, had been organised by Good Advice – a consulting firm hired by the gas company to help navigate relationships with traditional owners and other stakeholders. Several of the attendees had arrived on a bus that it's understood was facilitated by the firm's sole director, Greg McDonald. Two days earlier, McDonald had held a similar meeting on Empire's behalf with a different group of traditional owners 400km away in the pastoral town of Mataranka, known for its thermal pools. Accounts of exactly what happened at the meetings differ but there are several common threads. A major leak of Northern Land Council files, correspondence and recordings to Guardian Australia contains claims that traditional owners were offered financial benefits if they agreed to let Empire Energy sell 'appraisal gas' – which is gas collected during the exploration phase – from its Carpentaria pilot project in the Beetaloo basin. The leaked files reveal serious concerns among traditional owners and bureaucrats about the lobbying activities of Empire Energy, Good Advice and several members of the NLC's full council, who were employed as advisers by the consulting firm. According to claims made in the leaked material, the meetings ran an agenda favourable to Empire Energy's aims and presented unrealistic promises of large royalties and other benefits. Traditional owners were allegedly told payments could be agreed privately with the gas company, outside the usual land rights process overseen by the land council. Some traditional owners said they recalled signing a document – which would later be attached to the letter to AAPA – but one claimed he 'thought he was signing up for the money' that was allegedly promised, according to the documents, and another said he thought he was signing up to join an organisation. The documents include claims that some of the attendees were confused about the meetings and their purpose. It's understood some were confused in part because they recognised McDonald from his previous position at the NLC, where he worked until 2023. Consultation meetings between traditional owners and gas companies are part of the usual process before fracking projects in the Top End can progress. But official consultations are facilitated by the NLC – the federal agency that oversees gas exploration on land covered by the land rights and native title acts – not by independent consulting firms. With McDonald at the Heartbreak Hotel were executives from the gas company but also – according to traditional owner accounts – at least two current members of the NLC's full council, which is the main decision making body for the agency. Adding to the confusion was the timing of the meetings, which was shortly before actual formal land council consultation sessions about the potential sale of exploration gas from Empire's Carpentaria pilot project were due to start in late August. Sources not authorised to speak publicly told the Guardian that many of the attendees claim they did not know that Good Advice and McDonald had been hired by Empire Energy. Three weeks after the meetings, chair of the NLC, Matthew Ryan, wrote to the managing director of the gas company to say traditional owners had raised concerns that it might be trying to 'circumvent processes under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act using consultants associated with Good Advice or Mr McDonald'. In a letter seen by the Guardian, Ryan wrote that the 'common themes' raised with the NLC included claims Good Advice was facilitating meetings for Empire Energy with individuals who 'may or may not be council members of the Land Council' present and 'attempting to pass off the meetings as Land Council meetings'. He said traditional owners had claimed that Empire, via Good Advice, was 'facilitating payments or promising payments' to them outside the agreements negotiated with the NLC through the land rights process. McDonald worked for the NLC for just over a decade from 2012, according to federal Senate records. In the years leading up to his departure on 24 March 2023, he was the manager of the resources and energy branch, which oversees the land council's duties and functions as they relate to the resources and energy sector. On 12 April 2023 he registered the company Good Advice Pty Ltd. The company has no website. McDonald's sparse LinkedIn profile says he is the managing director with skills in 'bespoke solutions'. He did not respond to the Guardian's questions. But it is apparent from public records that Good Advice's services involve helping gas companies navigate their relationships with traditional owners in the Top End, people with whom McDonald had formed relationships while at the land council. It's not uncommon for bureaucrats to move from public service into private consulting roles. To assist with his work, McDonald has recruited several members of the NLC's full council, which is made up of 83 Aboriginal councillors from the Top End. In a response submitted to a government consultation, obtained by the Guardian under freedom of information laws, McDonald described Good Advice as a supplier to the offshore resources industry that was founded 'with a vision to facilitate and assist First Nations persons to engage with the private and public sectors in a culturally appropriate manner' and to 'support the informed consultation and participation of First Nations in relation to proposed industrial developments and policy development'. McDonald wrote that Good Advice used the services of 'consultant cultural advisors' who were a 'dynamic team of experienced persons, from elected representatives to ceremonial leaders'. The NLC councillors who are identified in the leaked documents as allegedly working for Good Advice did not respond to questions from the Guardian. The NLC's chief executive Yuseph Deen said councillors were considered 'part-time public officials' who often wore many hats and 'are entitled to engage in outside employment opportunities in an individual capacity'. He said the land council 'provides regular governance training for council members, to ensure that members are aware of their duty to declare and manage conflicts of interest appropriately'. 'When council members are engaged in an individual capacity, they are not authorised to speak for, or on behalf of, the NLC.' In the days leading up to the Heartbreak Hotel meeting, McDonald and three NLC councillors were seen 'going around town and the town camps' approaching people, according to claims made in a consultant's report that was part of the leaked documents. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion One traditional owner claims in the report that the NLC councillors canvassing people in community were wearing their NLC shirts: 'They came here telling people about fracking being OK, they were wearing NLC shirts,' he is quoted as saying. William John, the traditional owner whose name was on the envelope of the letter sent to AAPA, told the Guardian that before he attended the meeting in Mataranka he had also been visited during a stay in Darwin by McDonald and three NLC councillors. 'They didn't give me any advice. What they want me to do: accept getting gas out of my land. But I didn't want to do that,' he claimed. 'They said anything I want they would do: paying me money; getting me [a] vehicle to go visit my land, fuel, money, whatever. 'They talked about the gas, getting the money out of the gas. 'I'd like someone to help stop what they're doing.' The independent senator Lidia Thorpe has asked questions in parliament over the past year about the relationship between Good Advice, the gas industry and some NLC councillors and whether there were potential conflicts of interest in those relationships. In answers to questions on notice from Thorpe, the NLC has said five of its councillors have declared conflicts with Good Advice, with four in paid roles. At Senate estimates in November, the NLC was asked follow-up questions by Thorpe and said it had now introduced a conflict of interest register for members. 'Conflicts of interest are part of governance, but we are talking about people being paid what are likely very large sums of money by gas companies,' Thorpe said at the hearing. 'These people were on a statutory body that is supposed to be representing traditional owners in negotiations with gas companies. 'So, you've got someone being paid by a gas company but then they're also in there negotiating with the gas company about destroying country by fracking it. 'How can the community be confident that conflicts of interest are being managed if some of our mob are being paid by the very companies that are destroying our land, and then these fullas are going in there negotiating with the same companies?' The NLC responded: 'As a management action, all five NLC council members agreed to leave the room during any discussions or decisions regarding their conflicts.' Thorpe told the Guardian: 'If you're on the land council then you should be looking after the people you represent. And you need to be ensuring you have permission to make certain decisions that affect country or water or people.' When it came time for the land council to hold its official consultation sessions about Empire's proposal to sell appraisal gas in late August, traditional owners, including a Wuyaliya man, Asman Rory, raised their concerns with the company about the AAPA letter and the meetings at Mataranka and the Heartbreak Hotel. At one of those consultation sessions, in the remote community of Borroloola, Rory said to the company's managing director Alex Underwood: 'Greg McDonald got signatures of land trust members on a letter pushing your way forward … it's a very wrong way.' Underwood allegedly responded: '[That is] simply a document from a range of people for whom we are simply seeking to get [the] AAPA process going again.' He said the company had 'been transparent' and that it worked with Good Advice because 'we are simply trying to re-establish relationships'. Rory, who is a cultural lawman for his country, told the Guardian he had not attended the Heartbreak Hotel meeting but he and his partner had been visited at home by McDonald and some NLC councillors. On the day of the meeting he said he was concerned when he was at the local shops and saw some of his family members being guided on to a bus by McDonald. 'I pulled into the shop when he was loading everybody on and I said, 'What's going on here, mate?'' he said. Rory said McDonald explained they were going to Heartbreak Hotel to meet Empire Energy to discuss the gas proposal. 'And I said it's no good for you to do this. You're taking that responsibility away from me.' At the consultation session, it's understood a senior NLC executive told Empire: 'We have been getting questions about whether there were NLC meetings last week. People are finding this confusing and I am finding this confusing.' The land council's chair then wrote to Underwood on 4 September. In that letter, Ryan asked the gas company for an explanation of the nature of its engagement of Good Advice and for detail about individuals Good Advice or McDonald had engaged as consultants. In a reply on 5 September, Empire's managing director Underwood said that he and members of his management team had been told by traditional owners and other stakeholders that 'environmental activist groups have been actively engaging with them' to prevent the development of the Carpentaria project and 'spreading serious misinformation'. He said the company had hired Good Advice on a short term contract on 24 July to 'ensure that all relevant stakeholders are receiving accurate information'. He said the company had notified the land council it had intended to engage the consulting firm and its role was to identify and engage with traditional owners and other stakeholders, manage relations and facilitate the company's engagement with government agencies. He rejected each of the allegations put to him by Ryan and said the company was not seeking to circumvent the Land Rights Act and had not engaged in private negotiations with traditional owners via Good Advice. He said that at the meetings he was present at, and to the best of his knowledge at all other meetings, traditional owners had been told the purpose was for information and discussion only, no negotiations were to take place at those meetings and they were not official land council meetings. He said neither the company nor Good Advice had attempted to pass the meetings off as official land council meetings and had 'never either directly or via Good Advice or Mr McDonald, facilitated or promised to make payments to Traditional Owners outside of the agreements negotiated with the NLC'. He said the company took its obligations under the Land Rights act seriously and its activities with Good Advice were 'an attempt to build our relationships with traditional owners and other stakeholders'. 'I and my team did not seek to cause offence, and if there is any I apologise.' Empire Energy's spokesperson told the Guardian that the company had 'a long history of respectful engagement with Traditional Owners over the last decade'. He said it had held more than 30 on-country meetings and continued to consult traditional owners about current and future works. Guardian Australia sent detailed questions to McDonald via email and post, to give him the opportunity to respond to the claims made about Good Advice's consulting work. He declined to respond. The NLC's Yuseph Deen told the Guardian the land council had a legislated responsibility to ensure traditional owners had the opportunity 'to give their free, prior, and informed consent to a [development] proposal; or to exercise their rights to say no'. 'Proponents who come on to Country, wanting to do business with Aboriginal people, are expected to act ethically and responsibly at all times,' he said. Speaking generally without reference to Empire, Good Advice or McDonald, Scambary said the NT had seen 'an increase in land users attempting to sidestep the work of [AAPA] and privately negotiate with Aboriginal custodians'. 'Whilst the Authority welcomes strong relationships between land users and the custodians of that land, these actions are very concerning,' he said. 'Private consultation, where conflicting and sometimes undisclosed commercial interests are at play, creates confusion and division within communities. It erodes confidence in sacred site protection and undermines certainty for developers, the public and custodians of sacred sites.' Scambary said AAPA existed to 'ensure that Aboriginal sacred sites are protected and that development occurs responsibly, transparently and lawfully'. 'Bypassing the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority not only endangers sacred sites, it puts projects and reputations at risk.' Do you know more? Email
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Landmark legal challenge against 'risky' fracking
An environmental group "very concerned" about the impact of fracking on water has launched the first test of recently expanded national laws. A plan to frack 15 gas wells in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin is being challenged by Lock The Gate Alliance in the Federal Court on Monday. The group is asking the court to grant an injunction and to compel the federal government to assess the project under the water trigger provisions of federal environmental laws. Lock The Gate Alliance research and investigations head Georgina Woods said their legal challenge was significant because work is already underway on the Shenandoah fracking pilot. "We are very concerned about the potential of the project to significantly impact groundwater resources through contamination," she said. "The whole of the Northern Territory relies on groundwater. Water is life up there." Fracking involves injecting a combination of water, chemicals and sand into deep shale layers underground at high pressure to extract gas. "It is an inherently risky activity and does carry the risk of contamination of groundwater sources and that's why we've taken this case," Ms Woods said. The federal water trigger legislation was expanded by federal parliament in 2023 to require the assessment of the impact of large coal mining and coal seam gas projects on water resources. However, the natural gas company defending the court challenge on Monday - Tamboran B2 - has not referred itself to the national regulator and the government hasn't selected the project for consideration. Parent company Tamboran is the largest acreage holder and operator in the Beetaloo basin, with about 770,000 net prospective hectares. Anti-fossil fuel activists gathered outside the courthouse in Sydney on Monday morning to show their support for Lock the Gate, holding signs declaring "No water, no life" and "Cry me a river". The Federal Court case will be the first legal challenge launched against fracking under the water trigger and is expected to run for several days.
The Guardian
21-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Federal Labor ministers at odds over contentious NT gas pipeline decision, internal document shows
Senior Albanese government ministers disagreed over whether a controversial Northern Territory gas pipeline should be allowed to go ahead without being fully assessed under national environment laws, an internal document shows. An environment department brief from February shows representatives for the agriculture minister, Julie Collins, and the Indigenous affairs minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, were concerned about the impact of the Sturt Plateau pipeline's construction on threatened species and First Nations communities. A delegate for Collins argued the development should be declared a 'controlled action', a step that indicates it was likely to have a significant impact on a nationally important environmental issue and required a thorough assessment under federal law. The brief, released under freedom of information laws, shows this was not accepted by the department, acting on behalf of the then environment minister, Tanya Plibersek. It concluded the pipeline did not need a national environmental impact statement before going ahead. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter APA Group, an energy infrastructure business, plans to build the 37km pipeline to connect a fracking operation in the NT's Beetaloo gas basin with the existing Amadeus pipeline. About 134 hectares of vegetation – equivalent to about 18 football grounds – would be cleared in the NT outback, about 600km south of Darwin. The new pipeline is expected to operate for 40 years. The environment department said that the construction would clear 'high -quality habitat' for the critically endangered northern blue-tongued skink, including about 29 hectares that was 'likely critical for the survival of the species'. But it decided the pipeline route did 'not form part of the species' area of occupancy' and concern about the skink was not grounds to fully assess the development. Collins' delegate disagreed. They said the pipeline should be fully assessed due to its potential impact on threatened species habitat and the assessment should consider 'cumulative impacts' – that is, that the pipeline and the Shenandoah pilot fracking project developed by Tamboran Resources should be considered together. The delegate argued that approval of the development should include conditions to protect 'the resource base on which agriculture depends' – including groundwater – and Indigenous culture. McCarthy's delegate told the environment department that First Nations groups were concerned about the project's connection to fracking, which they opposed due to its potential impact on 'water supplies and aquifers, the environment, culture, sacred sites and songlines'. But a delegate for the minister for resources and northern Australia, Madeleine King, backed APA Group's view that the pipeline did not need a full assessment, arguing it was 'unlikely to cause significant impact on protected matters' under environment law and was 'key enabling infrastructure to Tamboran's activity within the Beetaloo basin'. Hannah Ekin, from the Arid Lands Environment Centre, said in her opinion the brief showed gas industry interests had been prioritised over concerns about the environment and Indigenous culture. She said it was 'really frustrating' that Plibersek did not act on calls for the pipeline to be fully assessed, and particularly that McCarthy's comments had been disregarded, given she was an NT senator familiar with the region and local Indigenous concerns. Ekin said the environment department brief indicated the pipeline was found to not need an assessment in part because it was deemed as not 'integral' to the extraction of gas. She said this made no sense given the pipeline's explicit purpose was to ensure gas from Shenandoah could get to Darwin and be used under a deal between Tamboran and the NT government. She said the impact of the pipeline and the fracking development should have been assessed as one. 'The federal government must stop putting off looking at the terrible impacts this fracking project will have on the local environment and on the climate,' Ekin said. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion She said the NT government had removed laws that protected communities and the environment and urged the new federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to 'step up and call these fracking projects in for independent assessment'. Otherwise, she said, 'it's only a matter of time before we have an environmental disaster'. Georgina Woods, from the grassroots environmental organisation Lock the Gate Alliance, said the pipeline was 'part of the apparatus for fracking in the NT' and should have activated a 'water trigger' in federal law for a full assessment. The trigger requires the environment minister to consider the impact of major fossil fuel developments on water resources. 'We don't feel enough attention is being paid by the federal government to the environmental consequences already under way in the NT as part of the fracking industry,' Woods said. 'To see the agriculture department raise concerns, to see the Indigenous affairs department raise concerns, and for these not to be taken up and acted upon is frustrating.' Federal ministers and the environment department declined to respond to questions from Guardian Australia. APA Group also declined to comment. The NT government was asked for its response. Lock the Gate is challenging Tamboran Resources' Shenandoah pilot project in the federal court, alleging it is likely to affect water resources and should not be allowed to go ahead unless referred to Watt for assessment. A hearing starts on Monday. Fracking in the Beetaloo basin is part of a planned major gas industry expansion overseen by the NT Country Liberal party government. It said this week it had abandoned a commitment made before it was elected last year to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030. Scientists and environmentalists have accused the NT government of also overseeing a ramping up of forest and vegetation destruction on pastoral properties. Nearly 26,000 hectares – an area about 90 times larger than the Sydney CBD – was approved for clearing in the first six months of this year. More than half of the clearing was given the green light by the NT government's pastoral land board in a nine-day period earlier this month. None of it was deemed significant enough to refer for assessment under federal environment laws for the potential impact on threatened species and ecosystems. Kirsty Howey, from the Environment Centre NT, accused the CLP of unleashing an 'environmental catastrophe' and 'approving more deforestation in six months than has been approved in any one year in the last decade'. Watt this week met with representatives from industry, environment, farming and First Nations organisations to discuss changes to nature laws. He suggested they could both improve environmental protection and lead to faster approval decisions for development proposals. Howey said the laws should be immediately reformed 'to stop the rampant deforestation and nature destruction occurring across northern Australia before it's too late for the largest intact savanna woodland left on Earth'.
