I just put this on his FB page.....
PEP 11article from the Newcastle Herald Sun
Friday,24 May 2024
11:40AM
Articlefrom the Newcastle Herald Sun………
TWENTY-SIXkilometers off the coast of Newcastle lies the most talked about andpoliticized gas field in Australia 's history Petroleum Exploration Permit 11,or PEP11, is perhaps the most significant unexplored gas field Australia has atits doorstep, and it is being stifled by bureaucracy.
Even forthose who know nothing about gas exploration, PEP11 will sound familiar,unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.
In 2022,then prime minister Scott Morrison made a political decision that would foreverbe known as the 'secret ministries'. This decision allowed Morrison to besecretly sworn in to a range of ministries unbeknown to his colleagues,including the ministry for resources. This plan would allow for the power todecide the fate of PEP11 to rest on his shoulders, rather than where it shouldhave: with then resources minister Keith Pitt.
The planwas enacted, and Morrison, in a bold and desperate move to win votes along theeast coast of Sydney, pandered to a small, vocal minority and denied PEP11 in avery public press conference on a Terrigal beach.
The PEP11permit - holder appealed against this decision and the court found thatMorrison was guilty of a number of questionable actions and, as a result,quashed the denial and ordered PEPII to be reviewed and decided upon accordingto the law.
Morrison's government lost not only those seats he was trying to save, but theelection.
Australiahas arguably the world leader when it comes to assessing exploration permits,and this regulatory body, known as the National Offshore Petroleum TitlesAdministrator (NOPTA), was asked to once again review PEP11 and provide arecommendation to the now Labor government.
It hasbeen established under FOI that NOPTA's original recommendation to the Morrisongovernment was to approve the exploration permit. This is standard practice,and a number of permits are approved each year so Australia can continue toexplore for crucial resources and keep the lights on.
NOPTAreviewed this permit for a second time and, while the recommendation of thissubsequent review is confidential, one can assume that a further recommendationof approval has been forwarded to the now ALP government.
Fastforward more than 12 months since the court ruling, and Australia finds itselfheld to ransom by a bureaucracy that refuses to act in the national interest.
Theapproval process requires that the NOPTA recommendation first go to the NSWMinister for Finance and Natural Resources, Courtney Houssos, for review andjudgement. That outcome is then sent to federal Resources Minister MadelineKing, who has the final say on approval or denial of this permit.
But here's the catch. In the middle of a cost- of-living crisis where energy prices areastronomical, there is no timeframe for either state or federal ministers toprovide a decision on the permit. As such, the permit sits in a sea ofpolitical and bureaucratic red tape while, in the sea, gas continues to seepout of the seabed where the exploration is to take place.
(20min delay)