Parliament Updates

22 June 2023

To the Prime Minister, your government has backflipped and blocked an inquiry into Middle Arm in Darwin, despite$1.5 billion of taxpayers money allocated to this project, extensive self interested lobbying and seemingly no independent business case or assessment of risks and benefits to the Australian people. FOIs show the key purpose isas a gas export terminal. Why is the public funding key infrastructure for a private gas company to make record profits from exports?

I give the call to the Minister for Resources and the Minister for Northern Australia. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think the Member was trying to impute that there is a subsidy for fossil fuels on the Middle Arm. That is not the case, and we've made that very clear that that is not the case and it will continue to be the case.

We will continue to work with the Northern Territory government on the development of the Sustainable Development Project there in the Northern Territory on Middle Arm. It is very important for the Northern Territory to diversify its economy. It does have challenges to its economy. And this government, the Albanese Labor Government, will continue to support and work with the Northern Territory Government. As the Minister for Infrastructure has said before, this government will have an equity stake in that project and we continue to work with right across Northern Australia, particularly in Darwin, where this project is very important for future export industries.