North West Shelf expansion: Murray Watt receives final brief ahead of May 31 decision deadline

Environment Minister Murray Watt says he has received the final departmental recommendation on whether to approve the extension of the North West Shelf project.

Senator Watt, who took over the portfolio last week following predecessor Tanya Plibersek’s repeated decision delays, said he is confident he will make a decision by the May 31 deadline.

With just 10 days to go and a packed two-day visit to Perth underway, Senator Watt said he now has all the necessary documentation to make the call.

“My department has now finalised a brief to me with a recommendation that I’ll be going through in the next few days,” he told ABC Radio Perth.

However, when asked about the contents of the recommendation, Senator Watt remained tight-lipped — declining to reveal whether officials advised extending the project for another 50 years or rejecting it outright.

He said legal constraints prevented him from discussing the details publicly and noted he had not yet read the full report.

“I’m a bit limited in terms of what I can say about it, because I am in the middle of a decision making process, and whatever I say on radio might be the basis of a legal appeal,” he said.

“I have not yet gone through any of the material for this decision.”

Acknowledging the challenges of the decision, Senator Watt said “we don’t live in Utopia” saying it was a complex issue that could not be made in 20 minutes.

“It’s obviously a really complex project and a really complex decision, and it’s not one I’m going to make in the space of 20 minutes. So, I will be giving that some thought in the coming days,” he said.

“I understand the significance of this decision for WA, I understand there are really strong views about it on both sides of the debate.

“One thing I can guarantee you is that whatever decision I make, there’ll be lots of people unhappy on either side of the debate. But that’s just the nature of the job.”

Senator Watt arrived in Perth late Monday, met with Premier Roger Cook on Tuesday, and is expected to speak with industry representatives on the sidelines of a WA mining summit today before heading back to Canberra.

The WA government has approved a 50-year extension of Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf gas project after a six-year environmental assessment process.

While in Perth, Senator Watt also told The West Australian he wanted all parties to “give and take” when he launches Labor’s third attempt to overhaul national environmental laws known as “Nature Positive”.

Labor’s controversial legislation has already been shelved twice after intervention from Mr Cook who called it a threat to WA jobs.

He described his meeting with the State Labor leader as “very constructive” and signalled a closer working relationship going forward.