Second reading
Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (17:41): I am very happy to rise and speak about gas in Victoria through the National Gas (Victoria) Amendment Bill 2025. I actually did not hear what the member for Sunbury was referring to, but when he said something was 20 minutes from where he lives it piqued my interest because 20 minutes from where I live is where all our gas comes from in Victoria, effectively, although not as much these days. Historically the Bass Strait oil and gas industry has been massive for my part of the world, particularly for Sale, with 95 per cent of Victoria’s gas coming from the Longford gas plant, obviously through Bass Strait. That has declined, and it has started to decline more seriously. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years the oil has stopped. About 2½ years ago, I think it was, the last oil was taken out of Bass Strait and sent to Long Island Point. We still have a significant amount of gas.
I always find gas an interesting topic of conversation in terms of supply reserves and what is left in Bass Strait, because it is very clear that it is winding down. The proponents – historically we just referred to Esso in my neck of the woods, but that consortium has now changed hands to Woodside. Woodside is taking on the actual production of the Bass Strait gas fields. But when I say Esso, and now meaning Woodside as well, it is always hard to know exactly what they know about what gas is left there. I am always bemused by the workers. Of course there are many that I interact with in the Sale area, whether it is through footy clubs or other groups and organisations. Many people will tell you there is heaps of gas in Bass Strait still, and I think that is actually true. The problem of course is that it is deeper, dirtier and more expensive to get out and in many cases completely uneconomic.
That has been the success story of the Bass Strait oil and gas industry. The gas in Bass Strait that has been processed for over 50 years now through the Longford plant is what they call ‘sweet gas’. It is one of the best gas reserves in the world because it has been so clean – I will not say pure methane but certainly very high levels of methane. The latter fields that have more recently been developed, like the Kipper Tuna Turrum fields, had a lot more impurities in them and made it more expensive. There is quite a bit of mercury that needs to be taken out of the Kipper Tuna Turrum gas, CO2 and other bits and pieces that make it more expensive. But for literally 45 or 50 years there has been this pure natural gas methane coming through that was relatively shallow, relatively easy to get at, and it has been an absolute driving force for the economy of Victoria, not just in terms of household use, which has become extensive – Victoria is by far and away the biggest percentage user in terms of the percentage of the population using natural gas in the country – but also for industry and in the last couple of decades more and more for electricity generation.
Certainly all of that is one of the reasons I am still a very big supporter of gas. I think the notion that we get out of gas any time soon simply for environmental purposes is ridiculous. We will need this as a transition fuel for a number of decades to come, because we simply cannot rely on wind and solar. Until we get better technology in terms of electricity production that is going to be affordable and reliable, we are going to need to rely on gas. I might add that I think we will need to continue with coal-fired power stations for a period longer. I know the Labor government do not like to talk about that, but they are also in agreement with that because they have done deals with EnergyAustralia at Yallourn and with Loy Yang A in terms of keeping those plants open to ensure that we keep the lights on. I think that is going to be important.
Gas is actually an important part of our economy, and we on this side certainly support it continuing to be. We have the member for South-West Coast in the chamber at the moment. Whilst the Gippsland Bass Strait fields are reducing, in the Otways and the south-west there are great opportunities and more gas is being produced there, and I think we will need more. The evidence from Geoscience Australia indicates there is probably a good 25-year supply still in Victoria, offshore and onshore through conventional means. I emphasise through conventional means. We will need that because we need it for industry, we need it for power generation and more particularly we need it for our households and our industrial sector. I certainly support the gas industry and will continue to do so. It is something that is going to take a while to draw down in Gippsland.
As I said, the oil in Bass Strait has stopped. It has effectively dried up, and the companies are now putting very heavily into the decommissioning phase. I know the other place has got an inquiry into the decommissioning process, a process which I might say politically there has been some frankly deceitful and very bad discussion about. We saw a press release a year or two ago from Friends of the Earth saying that Esso wanted to dump radioactive material on pristine beaches of a Ramsar-listed wetland. That was literally what was in their media release. If you did not know anything, you might be alarmed about that. The radioactive material is, as I understand, about as radioactive as a banana. Yes, there is radioactivity in some of that material from offshore. To suggest that it is being dumped on a Ramsar-listed beach in this pristine wetland – it is being taken to Barry Beach, which has been an industrial port for 50 years. Yet we have those green organisations out there saying this rubbish about how it is being dumped on a beach, and scaring people, frankly.
Anyone who understands the industry knows that Barry Beach is where the oil rigs started; that is where they went from and that is where they were assembled. It is simply being taken back there over the next couple of years, and that will be a very big job. It will bring a lot of jobs to the Barry Beach area again in South Gippsland, in my neck of the woods. Yes, there will be some environmental concerns, and Esso and Woodside will absolutely have to deal with those and make sure that there is no contamination and no run-off of any of the hydrocarbons that may well be coming in with these. I was talking to one of the managers at Esso the other day, who showed me pictures of the ship that is coming in. I believe it is the largest ship in the world. It will come in and they will literally cut off the platforms undersea, lift them up onto this ship – it has two large arms that come out – and then transport them into Barry Beach. It is just an unbelievable undertaking. If you consider the size of some of these platforms, they are massive. It is thousands of tonnes lift that this ship can do. It is a big undertaking and it is going to cost a lot of money. That is up to the companies to do. But for some of these NGOs to suggest that there are massive environmental issues with it is just wrong, and they need to be held to account for it. There will be environmental matters that need to be managed. I am sure that both state and federal agencies will be ensuring that they are.
This legislation is more about pipelines, and certainly from our perspective we believe there needs to be more gas. As I said, the Nationals and Liberals are not on an ideological crusade, as the current minister in this place has been for some time. We know that Victorians want the flexibility to choose whether they use natural gas or electricity or other means of production, and we certainly support gas. As I said, it is very clear to me that we will need gas for some time, for some decades, as a transition fuel and also as a feedstock. That is often forgotten by those who campaign against fossil fuels, that it is actually important as a feedstock for things like fertiliser, for chemicals and for various other products that we rely on every day in our society.
We have got some suggestions for amendments to this legislation but are certainly not opposing it. I will stand here and continue to be a supporter of our gas industry here in Victoria, particularly for the jobs and economic development that it provides to my electorate.