The NSW Government has endorsed Santos’ proposed Narrabri Lateral and Hunter Gas pipelines in the first raft of projects backed under its new Investment Delivery Authority (IDA), placing the fossil fuel project alongside renewable energy and battery storage developments.
Lock the Gate Alliance’s Head of Research and Investigations Georgina Woods said: “The NSW Government is attempting to give Santos a PR boost by endorsing its gas pipelines project alongside 13 renewable energy projects.”
"The Narrabri gasfields and pipelines threaten key water sources and prime farmland, and would devastate the Pilliga forest, which is of massive cultural significance to Gomeroi people. Recent economic analysis has shown it won’t even reduce gas prices for NSW residents.
"It’s not red tape that’s blocking this project, it’s sustained community opposition, and a lack of interest from investors to waste money on a project that the community has rejected."
Santos’ Narrabri gas pipelines appear to fail the criteria in the Investment Delivery Authority’s expression of interest, announced last October.
"According to the criteria, IDA projects must demonstrate a ‘positive commitment to commence’. But the majority of landholders have not signed agreements, Santos has not made a final investment decision, and the company is currently undertaking a strategic review of the project."
Liverpool Plains farmer Margaret Fleck said: "This is the most controversial project in the history of NSW’s planning system and Santos’ third attempt to connect its Narrabri gas project to the east coast gas network."
"Farmers who produce food along the proposed pipeline route are very aware of risks to land and water, and we won’t back down."