Federal Legal Action Over Woodside Gas Expansion
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has launched a new legal challenge against Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt, arguing that he failed to consider the climate devastation that would result from Woodside Energy’s plan to extend its North West Shelf gas project through to 2070.
The ACF’s Legal Counsel, Adam Beeson, said the minister had “clear scientific evidence and a chance to make a better decision than the previous Coalition government, but he backed in Sussan Ley’s flawed call and ignored the climate consequences of Woodside’s massive gas expansion.”
At the heart of the dispute lies a decision made in May 2025, when Minister Watt affirmed his predecessor Sussan Ley’s position that the 4 billion tonnes of projected emissions from the North West Shelf extension did not need to be assessed under Australia’s national environment law — the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
“This gas project will generate nearly four billion tonnes of emissions. That’s almost ten times Australia’s annual domestic pollution,” Beeson said. “Yet our Environment Minister has decided that’s just a drop in the ocean. We vehemently disagree.”
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The ACF argues that the minister’s interpretation of the EPBC Act was legally flawed, claiming he was not permitted to exclude the project’s climate damage from environmental assessment. If successful, the case could force governments to factor in the climate impacts of fossil fuel developments when assessing threats to Australia’s World Heritage reefs, wetlands, and endangered species.
Beeson said the litigation was a last resort: “Litigation is not easy. It’s risky and it’s expensive. We wouldn’t do this if we had any other option. But because our current nature laws are shockingly broken and favour polluting industries over the nature they claim to protect, litigation is necessary.”
The challenge comes amid mounting public scrutiny of the Albanese Government’s climate record and its ongoing approval of fossil fuel projects.
Environmental advocates say Woodside’s North West Shelf expansion — one of the world’s longest-running liquefied natural gas operations — represents a “carbon bomb” that could derail efforts to meet Australia’s emissions targets and further endanger the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Coast.
Beeson added that the timing of the case was significant, as Labor prepares to introduce long-awaited reforms to national environment laws.
“The test of Labor’s commitment will be the legislation that is tabled in Parliament this week. We need new nature laws that actually stop terrible polluting projects from being rubber-stamped in the first place.”
The ACF is represented by Environmental Justice Australia, continuing its growing record of climate litigation aimed at forcing governments to align environmental decision-making with scientific reality — and with the future of the planet itself.
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