Speech

I want to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are meeting today, the Ngunnawal People, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. And I extend that respect to all First Australians present.

And I acknowledge Damian (Dwyer, Acting CEO of Low Emissions Technology Australia), my Parliamentary colleagues including the Shadow Minister and Senator Queensland Senator Susan McDonald, and officials from government departments and industry. 

Thank you to Low Emissions Technology Australia (LETA) for the opportunity to say a few words this evening. And congratulations on the work that has gone into this report.

As this report makes clear, CCS can play a critical role in decarbonising hard-to-abate industries across Australia like steel, cement and chemical production.

CCS will also play a role in reducing the emission intensity of gas at the point source of production. 

This report is an important contribution to increase the understanding of the potential of CCS as the industry takes steps to scale up. 

The Future Gas Strategy I released in our first term underscored the role that CCS can play to support the net zero transition. 

CCS will not be a silver bullet. But it has the very great potential to work alongside other efforts to reduce emissions.

The task of reaching net zero is a significant challenge, but it simply must be met, all tools must be applied. 

What is also clear is that Australia has the right elements to be an important player in global CCS value chains. 

We have the right geology, the right infrastructure, and the right skills to be at the forefront of commercial development of CCS.

Our approach is to ensure the right policy and regulatory settings are in place for industry to make investment decisions on their projects. 

It’s a twofold approach.

• Firstly, robust regulations will allow for the effective, safe and environmentally responsible storage of CO2.
• And secondly, a stable and predictable business environment will encourage long-term investment.

My department is currently undertaking a review of our regulatory settings to provide better regulatory and administrative certainty for offshore CCS projects. 

The Government is also cooperating with our regional partners on carbon management solutions.

In 2024, I granted 10 new greenhouse gas storage assessment permits as part of the 2023 Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release.

CCS exploration continues, with INPEX’s West Peron-1 and West Peron-2 drilled in the Bonaparte Basin last year to assess the suitability of potential CO2 storage for their Bonaparte CCS project. 

This is an exciting project with significant potential for permanent carbon storage.

And I was pleased that the Minister for Industry and Innovation and the Minister for Science saw fit to award this project with Commonwealth Major Project Status earlier this month. And there are projects already underway.

Australia also has two of the world’s largest operational, commercial scale CCS projects.

The SANTOS Moomba CCS project, onshore in South Australia is using a reservoir that held gas molecules for millenia. That reservoir is being re-utilised to once again hold gas, in the form of CO2.

It began storage operations in in September 2024, and has so far safely stored one million tonnes of CO2.

And the Gorgon CCS project at Barrow Island, offshore of Western Australia, which opened in 2019.

Built and operated by Chevron – this facility has safely stored 11 million tonnes of CO2 that would otherwise have been emitted into our atmosphere.

It is fashionable in some circles to denigrate existing CCS projects. But to do this without observing what has been achieved is to write off how CCUS can contribute to decarbonisation, and to ignore the warning of the IEA that reaching net zero will be virtually impossible without CCUS.

But we know that new sites need to be identified to drive private investment. 

To that end, we’re investing $3.4 billion over 35 years in the Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity program. 

This will allow Geoscience Australia to comprehensively map our natural resources and renewable energy potential, including the geological suitability for CCS. 

By 2028, RAP will deliver a national carbon dioxide storage resource atlas, with work already underway to guide its development.

CONCLUSION

Congratulations again on the report. 

We have the skills, the experience, and the determination to be a big part of this expanding sector.

I look forward to working with you to make this a reality. Thank you

ENDS