2025-07-03
Inaugural speech and speaking out against gas expansion in North West WA
By Hon Sophie McNeill, MLC
First weeks in parliament
It was an honour to be sworn in as one of your Greens representatives in the 42nd Parliament and the support from everyone in the Greens movement has been incredible!
We hit the ground running, interrogating the government’s summary and findings from the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring report and the Cook government’s attempts to misrepresent the findings ahead of the devastating approval of the North West Shelf Project Extension to 2070. Despite the report showing that emissions are degrading the rock art the Cook Labor government attempted to spin a different narrative, but we didn’t let this happen.
While the negotiations between the Federal government and Woodside are ongoing we now know that the federal government’s proposed conditions are specifically to do with the impact that direct emissions from the North West Shelf gas processing plant will have on the Rock Art. Confirming what we were saying and shining a concerning light on the Cook government and their intentions in just the first few weeks of this government.
Stopping Woodside’s Browse
As you probably know, the North West Shelf is just a small part of Woodside’s plan. The centrepiece of their projects is drilling for gas from the Browse gas field, directly underneath the beautiful (but vulnerable) Scott Reef. It was so heartening to see our movement turn out in force as we ran workshops to write submissions to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). Literally hundreds of you came at short notice, wrote your own submissions and helped contribute to the vital research on Woodside’s amended proposal that was attempting to skirt significant environmental concerns.
I couldn’t be prouder of the response from the community. Shortly after the submission period closed, the EPA announced that they had received an incredible 17,500 submissions in a short 4 week period. Around 3,500 of these were submissions that you all wrote researched and encouraged your networks to submit. This is an incredible demonstration of community power and I hold a large amount of hope that EPA will take heed of these submissions and not allow Browse to proceed. For the sake of the incredible marine ecosystem that exists at Scott Reef and everyone across the world who is already feeling the impacts of the climate emergency we are all living in.
Peace and non-violence
We organized a special event at parliament bringing together MPs from Labor, The Greens, and the Animal Justice Party to hear a harrowing and heartbreaking talk by Perth nurse Amy Curtis who has just returned from three months working in Gaza for the International Committee of the Red Cross. I read out some of Amy’s harrowing testimony in the chamber as a member's statement.
Inaugural Speech
I would also like to take a moment to thank everyone who attended, listened to or watched my inaugural speech as well as the inspiring and emotive speeches of our Greens WA parliament team. Your support means so much to all of us and helps us to continue to strive for change despite the apathy and arrogance of many who are involved in politics.
Housing
I would like to acknowledge my colleague Tim Clifford and the incredible work his team has done on his housing motion that was not only debated but passed! This is such an important issue that is impacting so many, so unnecessarily. As Tim explained, at a time when the state government has the power and means to enact change this shouldn’t be happening. Now, thanks to Tim’s work and building on the legacy of Brad Pettitt and the housing inquiry last term, the government has to show some kind of accountability. This is why we are in there.
There is so much work to do and we are only just getting started. In a state where the government is so desperate to profit from the USA military industrial complex and no matter the risk it places on the places, native fauna, or communities. Where fossil fuel companies are encouraged to rake in billions in profit at the expense of all of us and the future of our state. We will not stop working for change. Pushing this government to do what is in the interest of all of us.
Header photo: Sophie giving her inaugural speech in the Legislative Council on 24th June.