Wade, it is good to see this article on OLO.

The main concern for me is that this enormous gas project is just another part of Australia’s rapid-growth-forever mentality, which is just totally the opposite to the achievement of a sustainable society.

It props up our society on fossil-fuel energy, facilitates rapid population growth, and makes it that much harder to transition into a paradigm of sustainability.

But, if a new government was to suddenly make the philosophical change and really strongly embrace the whole sustainability thing, then this project could play a very significant part.

There is a glimmer of hope for this scenario eventuating now that Bob Carr is in the ministry, and following the last few years of Labor back-bencher, Kelvin Thomson’s lobbying on the subject with strong support from the general public.

If the Browse Basin project goes ahead within the current political climate, it will be bad for the country in the longer term. But if it goes ahead under a Carr Federal government (which has got to be a real possibility in the near future), and an environmentally sensible WA government (which I doubt there is any prospect of happening) it could be really good for the country.

While I certainly sympathise with you regarding the concerns you have raised, my feeling is that they could all be excused if this project was to happen within a genuine national sustainability paradigm, and was designed to really help us make the conversion to a renewable energy and resource base, with a stable demand and a supply capability able to comfortably meet that demand in an ongoing manner, such that a high quality of life is achieved and maintained across the country.

Wade, a good article highlighting the many legal checks and balances the Australian constitution has in place, and demonstrates one of the many hurdles Woodside, and any other major development aspirant, needs to address when proposing a development that involves the acquisition of land owned by either the crown or any other interest.

Woodside has many years of experience and careful consideration of this aspect of development proposals and I am sure that these issues will be resolved both legally and successfully in this particular case as well.

Having perused the compensation package on offer, I would have to acknowledge that it is one of the most thoughtfull, far reaching and comprehensive packages I have ever read, offering a paradigm change for local community development, a change as comprehensive as those that we see operating successfully by the Fortescue Metals group in the Pilbarra.

Thanks to the tireless work by numerous environmental advocacy groups in the development of comprehensive environmental regulations, the successfull meeting of these requirements by Woodside will, I am sure, reassure us all that your justifiably stated concerns as highlited in par.13 will be unfounded.

Access to this cleaner 'transition' energy source is a step in the right direction in terms of striving for sustainability in energy supply in the future.

This project appears to 'tick all the boxes' in terms of sustainability, Indigenous community development, northern Australian growth, environmental management and protection and potentially ameliorating the the 'fly in fly out' social dislocation issues.