For every tonne of coal and gas burnt, big corporations get richer and the climate crisis intensifies.

Worsening floods, droughts, heatwaves and bushfires: these are the direct result of fossil fuel projects that WA Labor continues to approve due to their unconditional support from the gas lobby.

The Greens will put an end to new gas projects, ban fracking across WA, and implement a 2030 renewable energy target and emissions reduction target for the state.

Gas corporations export $111 billion dollars of gas for free, and over 80 percent of the profits go offshore.

Western Australians pay more in car rego than the entire gas industry pays in royalties.

The Greens are fighting to make them pay their fair share.

We’ll develop a gas exit strategy and industry phase out plan for WA and provide incentives to decarbonise the resource sector. The Greens will ensure a just transition that will transform WA into into a renewable energy superpower.

The Greens will:

Ban new gas developments in WA

The global scientific consensus is clear: to mitigate the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, we must stop extracting and burning gas. But under the WA Labor Government, Western Australia’s gas industry has become one of the biggest in the world – and one of the world’s biggest drivers of the climate crisis.

But the gas industry delivers no economic benefit to WA. Eighty-three percent of gas companies operating in WA are foreign owned, which means most of their eye-watering profits are sent overseas. The industry employs fewer than one percent of WA workers, pays little to nothing in taxes and royalties, and receives billions in WA taxpayer handouts to subsidise projects that are otherwise unprofitable.

It also directly threatens some of WA’s most precious places, like the pristine Scott Reef, and slows critical progress towards the energy transition.

Despite what the gas industry – and the government it has bought out – tells us, there is simply no role for new gas projects in WA.

The Greens will legislate an end to state approvals for new gas fields or expansions in WA, including both offshore and onshore projects.

Ban fracking

Fracking was once banned in WA. But in 2018, the WA Labor government lifted its own moratorium to allow this intensive industrial process of methane extraction in parts of the Kimberley and Mid-West regions.

Fracking poses an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. Research shows people working at and living near fracking sites are at greater risk of heart failure, blood cancers and birth defects, while some of the environmental risks include contamination of water supply and increased seismic activity – not to mention the release of dangerous emissions that will fuel the climate crisis.

The Greens will protect Western Australian people and places by reinstating the moratorium on fracking in WA.

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Legislate strong renewables and emissions targets

We are in a climate crisis caused by the mining and burning of coal and gas. But while the rest of the country makes efforts to decarbonise, Western Australia is the last remaining Australian state without a 2030 emissions reduction target – and, worse, one of the few states where emissions are actually rising. 

It’s time WA took responsibility for our role in the climate crisis – and every possible step to mitigate it. We need strong, legislated targets and a clear plan to get there, with accountability through interim targets to measure our progress. 

The Greens will push to legislate a 2030 renewable energy target that includes annual targets and transparent updates. We will invest in a range of initiatives to speed up the clean energy transition, like incentivising large-scale commercial and industrial batteries and photovoltaic systems, and enabling onshore wind by upgrading high voltage transmission lines.

We will also legislate a comprehensive 2030 emissions reduction target that outlines binding annual targets and mandatory emissions reporting for industry.

Impose fair levies on gas profits

Gas corporations are robbing WA. Despite making a combined profit of $56.3 billion in 2022-23, gas companies operating in WA contribute around one percent of the state budget in royalties – less than half what the rest of us pay in car registration.

It’s time we put an end to the free ride the WA Labor government is giving to big polluters at our expense.

The Greens will make gas corporations pay their fair share by introducing two new levies on gas profits – and we’ll use the funds to power WA’s transformation into a green energy superpower. 

We will:

• introduce the Clean Energy Transition Levy, imposing a levy on profits made on existing gas projects including Chevron’s Wheatstone and Gorgon projects, Woodside’s Pluto gas project and Shell’s Prelude project. These funds will be directed in building publicly owned batteries, wind and solar, and paying for climate damage.

Renewables for homeowners and renters 

Sustainable energy solutions are critical not only as a means of fighting the climate crisis, but to bring down the soaring cost of energy bills. And while WA has led the way in our uptake of domestic solar panel systems, we fall short in two critical areas of uptake: home batteries and renewable energy systems for rental properties.

Taking our lead from the Northern Territory’s battery grant scheme, the Greens will incentivise home batteries and heat pumps by offering homeowners a rebate of up to $5,000 per household. 

And because renters also deserve the energy-saving benefits of renewables, we will push for a rebate for eligible rental providers on solar panel systems installed at rental properties.

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A comprehensive transition plan for WA

The climate emergency gravely threatens everything we know and love: our air, water and food; our health and safety; and our very existence. But the major parties don’t have a plan to phase out coal and gas, leaving Western Australia vulnerable to catastrophic environmental, social and economic consequences.

The Greens will transform WA into a renewable energy superpower by legislating a rapid and just transition. We will:

• Develop a gas exit strategy and industry phase-out plan for WA, providing training and support for gas industry workers to ensure they aren’t left behind in the transition to net zero
• Introduce incentives to decarbonise the resource sector
• Adopt a traffic light system for large-scale renewable energy projects