Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We know that today and yesterday as well, the Senate
hearings into the middle Arm development precinct, well, they are
indeed underway. Yesterday we've spoken to a doctor, a pediatrician
who'd raised some concerns about what they say could be
health impacts if middle Arm is indeed developed. And we
also saw some doctors and nurses on the steps of
(00:22):
Parliament House just a couple of days ago raising those concerns.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
But it sort of seems like one group may.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Have been forgotten, I guess from the Senate inquiry or hearings.
And the Australian Energy Producers Director David Slammer joins me
in the studio right now.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
David, morning Katie.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Will you guys invite it?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
No?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Why not?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Absolutely not. In fact, we try to invite ourselves several
times and being bumped. I was told that industry is
not required at these hearings. And I do know also
that a couple of members of our members, being a
gas industry proponents here in the territory, also they couple
of been invited, some weren't, but those that were invited
(01:09):
were then subsequently uninvited. And I've got the text here
they were bumped and replaced by others like possibly locked
the Gates and activist groups.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So I don't understand why, because you know, presumably when
you have an inquiry like this, the Senate inquiry, you
want to hear from all you know, from all stakeholders
and all concerned Like I know, for me on the show,
I'm very very firm on I might not agree with
everybody's opinion, but I think you need to make sure
that you have those opinions heard.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
So I can't understand why they wouldn't invite you guys.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, I'm baffled. I'm baffled. I do think that there
might be another hearing, as I'm told in Canberra a
little bit later on. And that's great where we do
hearings in Cambra all the time, but they're away from Darwin,
they're away from the territory. What was important to us
in our industry and we appreciate the Senate coming to
Darwin and having the hearing in Darwen. We thought that
was a really good thing. But for the industry to
not have a part at the table, to offer a
(02:05):
balanced view, to offer the other side, and you know
you talked about nurses at Parliament House, and now I've
got family in hospital at the moment. Dart Hospital of
Darwin has gone into Code yellow, and we've got nurses
out here on the steps of parliament Ours getting involved
in an industry they actually don't know enough about. They
(02:25):
don't have the facts, sadly to say. And I think
that what's happening here is said a quite dangerous precedent.
We've had CSRO, we've had studies, We've had over two
hundred engineering studies and health studies done to say that
all the technology that's going to be used in the
development of middle arm is not nineteen sixties or nineteen seventies.
(02:45):
We've moved on in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four.
There's some really safe, good technologies available and we're developing
with those. And the government wouldn't approve the EPA, wouldn't
approve any project that has harmful emissions. No one goes
out to build a project to kill people.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, I would bloody hope not. You know, that's the thing,
And I guess you know. The point I suppose for
me that I feel like gets lost quite often is
that you know, we all understand that we are trying
to go very green and we're trying to change the
way that we you know that we that we get
our energy in Australia. But gas is part of that
discussion as well, and it does sort of need to
(03:22):
be part of that discussion. I suppose the concern that's
being raised by you know, by some groups, and I'm
sure it's being heard at these at the Senate's inquiry
or the Senate hearings throughout this week, is that they're
worried about the climate. They're worried that the development, further
development of the gas industry in the Northern Territory is
going to have an impact on people's health, health, I
(03:43):
should say, and in turn potentially on the health system.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I mean, what do you say to those people?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, I don't think they're properly educated, and quite frankly,
I think a lot of those opinions come from years
of scare hungering and brainwashing from the side of politics
that don't want to see any development to do with
fossil fuel. Now, let me make one very important point
here in the Northern Territory, about ninety percent of electricity
(04:11):
that's made is with gas. We had the option forty
years ago to build a coal fired power station. Our
government at the time decided not to. Now, had we
have gone with coal, we would have been way further
down the track to try and get greener. We're actually
so much closer to where we can be to a
healthy environment and a carbon carbon zero zone. So we've
(04:31):
got gas now. When the sun doesn't shine and the
wind's wind doesn't turn the turbines, there's actually nothing else
in a territory that can give us electricity. So people
might think it's a gas barbecue, or it's a cooker
and a fish and chip shop, or it's a hot
order system on gas. Absolutely, but if you replace it
with electric, you're just going to need more gas to
(04:52):
make more electricity to keep our lights on. People getting
scared about blackouts. We've had twenty thousand homes go out
last month. We're going to see a lot more of this.
If Middle Arm doesn't come on, if the gas industry
doesn't maintain its investment, we are going to see a
severe lack of available power in the Northern Territory because
it's made with natural gas.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I mean, if you are able to attend those hearings today,
what would you.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Be saying, I'd be pointing to the fact. I'd be
very much pointing to the facts of the CSRO that
have got an abundance of information over the years, provided
several studies that show that emissions can be controlled, that
there's no harm to body in the development of Biloo
Basin or the Middle arm. I'll be talking to the
(05:38):
fact that we've just gone through a Pepper inquiry that's
put everything on hold and said, hang on, let's do
a full investigation into all parts of the industry. And
we've come out at the other end of that with
one hundred and thirty odd recommendations, all of which can
be met safely. The work's been done, the science being done,
The government's done a good job. In fact, we are
now the most regulated government in the world world here
(06:01):
in the Northern Tier Control and Churigy. It's actually making
it a little bit hard for investment to come because
investors now need to comply with all the regulation that
we've got. But it's a good thing and with time
that'll sort of wash itself out. But we are a
safe place to do business and the industry is in
a good spot.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
So tell me in terms of that Middle Arm development.
You know what would we actually see happening there from
the gas industry's perspective.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I can see from what I know from the gas
industry side, we could be seeing another gas, another plant,
another IMPEX if you like, or another Santas. But if
you look at Middle Arm, one point here, Kate, that's important.
We've had Conico Phillips, We've had Santas, We've had Impacts
for twenty five thirty years. I was on the jet
(06:48):
skis on the weekend. The dolphins are still there, the
barre are still going, the mangroves are still green, and
the precincts looking great. So to add another opponent to
that large area of land, it will now have access
possibly to renewable energy. It will have the latest technology.
It's going to give us a renewable gas option. And
(07:11):
renewable gas option is where we need carbon capture and storage.
I'll bring it up. People are hearing about it. That
precinct is going to allow us to actually take carbon
out of gas, produce renewable carbon, and pump carbon back
into the ground where it's come from. And that's world
leading technology is happening right here in Darwin.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Green groups and environmentalists have said to me on the
show before you know, Katie, there's just not the level
of jobs that the gas industry is saying that there's
going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Are there going to be jobs?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Reports that I've seen, Katie point to twenty thousand jobs.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
So you reckon there's going to be twenty thousand jobs
potentially at Middle Larfine.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Across all industries, not just our industry. If you look
at industry as a precinct, as a sustainable energy precinct
over a period of time. The reports of red commissioned
by the Northern Territory government as part of their strategy,
was a twenty looking at twenty thousand jobs. And what
it's not going to be is when Impacts came to town,
we had ten thousand jobs straight away and it was on.
(08:07):
So these you know, there's going to be development phases,
going to be approval phases, construction phases, geology, engineering, et cetera.
So they will flow through. But it is the job's
component is absolutely key and it's going to be huge.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Now to those that are listening this morning and they're going,
why does it need to be at Middle arm, you know,
is this going to be a petrochemical hub. What is
you know, what's this going to mean for the environment.
What do you say to that?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, the petrochemical hub is a phrase that's been coined
by those who don't want any development, and I would
refrain from using that because it's actually a sustainable energy hub.
There's going to be solar, there's going to be manufacturing
with processes, renewable energy processes. So I say to people,
just don't listen to the minority. You know when you've
(08:55):
got that little doggie that yap's the loudest that's always heard. Well,
that's what's happening at the moment. But there's actually two
thirds of Territorians looking at the poll results on Anti
News the other day that are supporting this industry and
those who aren't are very much drifting off into a minority.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, David Slammer, I really appreciate your time this morning.
Of course you are the director of the Australian Energy Producers.
We really appreciate you coming in. Thank you very much
for having a chat with us.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Thanks Katie, thank you
We know that today and yesterday as well, the Senate
hearings into the middle Arm development precinct, well, they are
indeed underway. Yesterday we've spoken to a doctor, a pediatrician
who'd raised some concerns about what they say could be
health impacts if middle Arm is indeed developed. And we
also saw some doctors and nurses on the steps of
(00:22):
Parliament House just a couple of days ago raising those concerns.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
But it sort of seems like one group may.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Have been forgotten, I guess from the Senate inquiry or hearings.
And the Australian Energy Producers Director David Slammer joins me
in the studio right now.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
David, morning Katie.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Will you guys invite it?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
No?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Why not?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Absolutely not. In fact, we try to invite ourselves several
times and being bumped. I was told that industry is
not required at these hearings. And I do know also
that a couple of members of our members, being a
gas industry proponents here in the territory, also they couple
of been invited, some weren't, but those that were invited
(01:09):
were then subsequently uninvited. And I've got the text here
they were bumped and replaced by others like possibly locked
the Gates and activist groups.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So I don't understand why, because you know, presumably when
you have an inquiry like this, the Senate inquiry, you
want to hear from all you know, from all stakeholders
and all concerned Like I know, for me on the show,
I'm very very firm on I might not agree with
everybody's opinion, but I think you need to make sure
that you have those opinions heard.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
So I can't understand why they wouldn't invite you guys.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, I'm baffled. I'm baffled. I do think that there
might be another hearing, as I'm told in Canberra a
little bit later on. And that's great where we do
hearings in Cambra all the time, but they're away from Darwin,
they're away from the territory. What was important to us
in our industry and we appreciate the Senate coming to
Darwin and having the hearing in Darwen. We thought that
was a really good thing. But for the industry to
not have a part at the table, to offer a
(02:05):
balanced view, to offer the other side, and you know
you talked about nurses at Parliament House, and now I've
got family in hospital at the moment. Dart Hospital of
Darwin has gone into Code yellow, and we've got nurses
out here on the steps of parliament Ours getting involved
in an industry they actually don't know enough about. They
(02:25):
don't have the facts, sadly to say. And I think
that what's happening here is said a quite dangerous precedent.
We've had CSRO, we've had studies, We've had over two
hundred engineering studies and health studies done to say that
all the technology that's going to be used in the
development of middle arm is not nineteen sixties or nineteen seventies.
(02:45):
We've moved on in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four.
There's some really safe, good technologies available and we're developing
with those. And the government wouldn't approve the EPA, wouldn't
approve any project that has harmful emissions. No one goes
out to build a project to kill people.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, I would bloody hope not. You know, that's the thing,
And I guess you know. The point I suppose for
me that I feel like gets lost quite often is
that you know, we all understand that we are trying
to go very green and we're trying to change the
way that we you know that we that we get
our energy in Australia. But gas is part of that
discussion as well, and it does sort of need to
(03:22):
be part of that discussion. I suppose the concern that's
being raised by you know, by some groups, and I'm
sure it's being heard at these at the Senate's inquiry
or the Senate hearings throughout this week, is that they're
worried about the climate. They're worried that the development, further
development of the gas industry in the Northern Territory is
going to have an impact on people's health, health, I
(03:43):
should say, and in turn potentially on the health system.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I mean, what do you say to those people?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, I don't think they're properly educated, and quite frankly,
I think a lot of those opinions come from years
of scare hungering and brainwashing from the side of politics
that don't want to see any development to do with
fossil fuel. Now, let me make one very important point
here in the Northern Territory, about ninety percent of electricity
(04:11):
that's made is with gas. We had the option forty
years ago to build a coal fired power station. Our
government at the time decided not to. Now, had we
have gone with coal, we would have been way further
down the track to try and get greener. We're actually
so much closer to where we can be to a
healthy environment and a carbon carbon zero zone. So we've
(04:31):
got gas now. When the sun doesn't shine and the
wind's wind doesn't turn the turbines, there's actually nothing else
in a territory that can give us electricity. So people
might think it's a gas barbecue, or it's a cooker
and a fish and chip shop, or it's a hot
order system on gas. Absolutely, but if you replace it
with electric, you're just going to need more gas to
(04:52):
make more electricity to keep our lights on. People getting
scared about blackouts. We've had twenty thousand homes go out
last month. We're going to see a lot more of this.
If Middle Arm doesn't come on, if the gas industry
doesn't maintain its investment, we are going to see a
severe lack of available power in the Northern Territory because
it's made with natural gas.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I mean, if you are able to attend those hearings today,
what would you.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Be saying, I'd be pointing to the fact. I'd be
very much pointing to the facts of the CSRO that
have got an abundance of information over the years, provided
several studies that show that emissions can be controlled, that
there's no harm to body in the development of Biloo
Basin or the Middle arm. I'll be talking to the
(05:38):
fact that we've just gone through a Pepper inquiry that's
put everything on hold and said, hang on, let's do
a full investigation into all parts of the industry. And
we've come out at the other end of that with
one hundred and thirty odd recommendations, all of which can
be met safely. The work's been done, the science being done,
The government's done a good job. In fact, we are
now the most regulated government in the world world here
(06:01):
in the Northern Tier Control and Churigy. It's actually making
it a little bit hard for investment to come because
investors now need to comply with all the regulation that
we've got. But it's a good thing and with time
that'll sort of wash itself out. But we are a
safe place to do business and the industry is in
a good spot.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
So tell me in terms of that Middle Arm development.
You know what would we actually see happening there from
the gas industry's perspective.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I can see from what I know from the gas
industry side, we could be seeing another gas, another plant,
another IMPEX if you like, or another Santas. But if
you look at Middle Arm, one point here, Kate, that's important.
We've had Conico Phillips, We've had Santas, We've had Impacts
for twenty five thirty years. I was on the jet
(06:48):
skis on the weekend. The dolphins are still there, the
barre are still going, the mangroves are still green, and
the precincts looking great. So to add another opponent to
that large area of land, it will now have access
possibly to renewable energy. It will have the latest technology.
It's going to give us a renewable gas option. And
(07:11):
renewable gas option is where we need carbon capture and storage.
I'll bring it up. People are hearing about it. That
precinct is going to allow us to actually take carbon
out of gas, produce renewable carbon, and pump carbon back
into the ground where it's come from. And that's world
leading technology is happening right here in Darwin.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Green groups and environmentalists have said to me on the
show before you know, Katie, there's just not the level
of jobs that the gas industry is saying that there's
going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Are there going to be jobs?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Reports that I've seen, Katie point to twenty thousand jobs.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
So you reckon there's going to be twenty thousand jobs
potentially at Middle Larfine.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Across all industries, not just our industry. If you look
at industry as a precinct, as a sustainable energy precinct
over a period of time. The reports of red commissioned
by the Northern Territory government as part of their strategy,
was a twenty looking at twenty thousand jobs. And what
it's not going to be is when Impacts came to town,
we had ten thousand jobs straight away and it was on.
(08:07):
So these you know, there's going to be development phases,
going to be approval phases, construction phases, geology, engineering, et cetera.
So they will flow through. But it is the job's
component is absolutely key and it's going to be huge.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Now to those that are listening this morning and they're going,
why does it need to be at Middle arm, you know,
is this going to be a petrochemical hub. What is
you know, what's this going to mean for the environment.
What do you say to that?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, the petrochemical hub is a phrase that's been coined
by those who don't want any development, and I would
refrain from using that because it's actually a sustainable energy hub.
There's going to be solar, there's going to be manufacturing
with processes, renewable energy processes. So I say to people,
just don't listen to the minority. You know when you've
(08:55):
got that little doggie that yap's the loudest that's always heard. Well,
that's what's happening at the moment. But there's actually two
thirds of Territorians looking at the poll results on Anti
News the other day that are supporting this industry and
those who aren't are very much drifting off into a minority.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, David Slammer, I really appreciate your time this morning.
Of course you are the director of the Australian Energy Producers.
We really appreciate you coming in. Thank you very much
for having a chat with us.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Thanks Katie, thank you
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