Thank you, Rebecca [Brown, Director General of the Western Australian Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation] for that introduction.

I’d like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land we’re gathered on today, the Whadjuk Noongar people, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

I extend that respect to First Nations peoples present.

I congratulate Premier Roger Cook and the entire WA Labor team who were resoundingly re-elected for a third term last weekend by the people of Western Australia. 

Premier Cook is a welcome and vocal supporter of this industry. 

And his re-election and that of a Labor Government in WA is an endorsement by the public of that support.

There’s always a great buzz around this event that brings so many people together. This year under a new name: Energy Exchange Australia. 

In presentation and in the exhibition hall, we will all see new industry trends and technological developments. 

And the exhibition hall is very important. 

For instance, after a speech I gave at this event a couple of years ago, I took a tour through the hall and spotted in the distance a screen with an image of an old Oberon class submarine, up on blocks at Henderson. 

I made a beeline for the presentation space, because I had been driving past that site for ages and was intrigued to know more. 

And it was unexpected to see an image of a submarine at an oil and gas conference. So I went and listened in on the presentation, and got to know a lot more about the decommissioning work of Birdon In submarines, but also in offshore gas facilities.

I raise this because my experience is just one example of why these events are so important.

Western Australia is the engine room of the nation’s economy.

Gas has been a significant contributor to this State’s economy since WAPET’s first commercial discoveries of oil on Barrow Island in the early 1960s. 

Discoveries soon after like the North West Shelf would eventually see WA powering not only Australia’s economy – but economies across the region. 

The steady supply of gas from Western Australia’s north over the decades has powered homes and businesses for many decades. 

As our gas has been sold into more of the major industrialised economies across Asia, it has become a major factor in the unrivalled period of peace and prosperity we have enjoyed in this region. 

The Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia policy puts the resources industry at the heart of our plan to build a better future for this nation. 

It’s about helping the world get to net zero. 

It’s about economic sovereignty and national security. 

We’re investing in industries that will have a strong comparative advantage in a net zero global economy, such as green metals. 

We’re investing in industries that provide the domestic capability we need for our economic resilience and security, such as critical minerals processing. 

I’ve been very clear. 

If we are to process more critical minerals and rare earths in Australia we will need gas to do that. 

Gas is vital in firming renewable sources of power. 

Gas is flexible. 

And gas brings the energy intensity needed to produce those high heats used in processing minerals. 

The Future Gas Strategy we delivered last year outlines our approach to meeting domestic and regional energy needs in the decades ahead Securing affordable gas for domestic consumers is the bedrock of the strategy.

But just as important, was the guiding principle of getting our economy to net zero by 2050 – and the role gas can plan in that transition.

While looking further ahead, we’ve acted for the here and now too.

We’ve reformed the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism and introduced the Gas Market Code, which has now secured more than 600 petajoules for the east coast market – enough gas to power the state of Queensland for two full years.

The Heads of Agreement we signed with east coast LNG producers commits them to offering any uncontracted gas to domestic customers ahead of exports.

We strengthened the powers of the market operator to manage short term supply problems.

More natural gas will flow to Australian households and businesses because of the actions of the Albanese Government. 

Senex Energy has committed over 150 PJ over the next five years to Australian manufacturers and energy retailers from its Atlas and Roma North Expansion project in the Surat Basin in Queensland, underpinning jobs and reliable electricity supply

As planned, we’ll review the ADGSM and Gas Code in an orderly fashion this year to make sure they’re delivering as intended.

These reviews will be open to the public, and we encourage stakeholders to make their views known to us.

Commentators who say that the Government is doing too little to bring on new gas, often conveniently ignoring the robust investment pipeline for new gas developments in Australia.  (Including, indeed, robust investment in pipelines)

Or that extra 600 petajoules of extra gas I mentioned earlier. 

Our policies on gas, just like our policies more broadly, will always be based on facts, on evidence and on analysis. 

That’s why this Government developed the Future Gas Strategy – to plan out the role for gas in our energy future. 

Which is unfortunately more than I can for Peter Dutton and the Liberal-National coalition. 

As we get closer to a Federal Election it is important to have a look at alternative policies.

Because the gas industry is too important to Australia and too important to our regional neighbours to not take these matters seriously. 

We saw an attempt at a comprehensive gas policy just a couple of weeks ago from the Liberal-National party, which was released in a media interview with no supporting policy material. 

Peter Dutton claims he can extract more gas out of Victoria and yet does not have the first idea of how he intends to work with the Government of Victoria to secure that outcome. 

Peter Dutton wants to streamline regulations in exchange for domestic supply commitments in Victoria, without apparently understanding that gas produced offshore Victoria has been sold exclusively to the domestic market for decades. 

But perhaps most startling was the total reversal of the Coalition’s position to the point where they now apparently support the Government’s efforts to secure more gas for the domestic market through the mandatory code of conduct. 

Which to me is puzzling, given that Peter Dutton stridently opposed the code and voted against it in Parliament. 

Just as he opposed all of the Albanese Government’s cost-of-living relief measures, including energy bill relief. 

Just as he opposed our Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive - designed with industry and which will rapidly accelerate critical minerals investment in the great state of Western Australia and across the nation. 

And just as he opposes our investments in the future of Australian-made iron, steel, alumina and aluminium – including right here in WA – through our Future Made in Australia green metals plans. 

Peter Dutton has no serious plan for strengthening gas supply, for investing in the critical minerals processing that is so vital for WA, or for ensuring Australians have the reliable energy system they need and the secure economic future they deserve. 

Let me be clear: I am always happy to entertain good ideas, and to work with my opponents on real, practical solutions to our nation’s challenges. 

But we aren’t getting any real ideas or real solutions from the Liberals - just pointless slogans with no detail. 

The Albanese Government understands the economic opportunity represented by CCS, as well as the importance of this growing sector to our nation’s economy and to our efforts to reduce the emissions intensity of gas production. 

I have approved new CCS permits across multiple acreage rounds. 

In fact, for all the Coalition nonsense about approvals – in 2022 I approved the first CCS acreage permits since 2015. 

Meanwhile, the Liberals and Nationals don’t seem to agree with each other on CCS at all. 

As well as granting acreage permits, the Albanese Government moved forward with our efforts to ratify important London Protocol amendments in 2023 to facilitate the international movement of Co2 for storage and sequestration.  

But in the Senate, the Liberals were no friends to CCS proponents – far from it. They sat back and enabled a filibuster on the London Protocol bill from crossbenchers for six full sitting days, filling Hansard with misinformation about the sector.

And that is emblematic of their approach to the sector generally: sit back on the sidelines and watch – and not even try to understand the challenges nor contribute to solutions.

It is clear the Liberals are just not ready to take up the responsibilities required to be a credible party of government.

Nevertheless, we are seeing continued strong interest from north-east Asia in Australia’s CCS opportunities.

In this global decarbonisation effort, we will need to mobilise every abatement solution at our disposal.

Finally, I want to touch on offshore decommissioning. 

As the Albanese Government’s decommissioning roadmap makes clear, offshore oil and gas decommissioning presents an immense economic opportunity for Australia.

Around $60 billion will be spent over the next 30-50 years plugging and abandoning oil and gas wells and removing associated infrastructure. 

The Australian Government’s priority is to see this this done safely, with minimum environmental impacts.

The roadmap sets out a path for Australia to maximise the amount of decommissioning activity that happens domestically, growing our industrial capability and creating safe, high-quality jobs for Australians.

And without taxpayers having to foot the bill. 

The Australian Government was forced to take carriage of the Northern Endeavour Floating Production Storage and Offloading in the Timor Sea in late 2021, following the insolvency of the operator. 

I’m pleased to announce that progress is now accelerating on the decommissioning of that FPSO and the associated oil fields. 

In November last year the floating offtake hose was disconnected and removed from the vessel. 

The final disconnection and removal of the FPSO from the field is planned in July 2025. 

Earlier this month, the well flushing and suspension campaign was completed. 

The Northern Endeavour FPSO will be dry-towed for final dismantling and recycling.  

Longer-term, decommissioning cannot be left to Governments. My department is leading a process to strengthen our existing financial assurance regime to guarantee that industry decommissioning will always remain the responsibility of industry. 

And to titleholders who are out there not adequately planning for future decommissioning expenses – we are watching closely and I am putting you on notice. 

Decommissioning is and must always remain the responsibility of industry. Taxpayers will never be left to foot the bill. 

I am ambitious to build a competitive domestic industry that complements our successful gas sector, creating jobs and benefitting communities where decommissioning occurs.

Australia well on track to find and produce the minerals and energy resources the world is demanding.

It is what we do and have done for decades. 

Australian industry is grasping the opportunity history has presented us – to leverage our geological endowment and know-how to harness the global energy transition for our future prosperity.

I am confident that together we are creating a brighter future for the industry and the nation.

Thank you.