New federal Environment Minister Murray Watt is facing mountain pressure from young Australians and climate advocates to reverse a 40-year extension granted Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia.
Meanwhile Woodside’s CEO Meg O’Neill is calling climate activists ‘hypocrites’ for happily buying fast fashion but opposing fossil fuels.
“They are happily plugging in their devices and ordering things from Shein and Temu having… one little thing shipped to their house without any sort of recognition of the energy and carbon impact of their actions,” O’Neill said at the Australian Energy Producers Conference last week.
So, are climate activists hypocrites?
On Wednesday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we sat down with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition’s Jordan Rowland, on why they’re calling for Murray Watt to scrap the deal.
“This sort of one word that comes to mind… is broken,” Rowand said.
“Young people made up over half of voters at the last election… and overwhelmingly voted for real climate action,” she said.
Rowand said the project’s approval sends a troubling message to young people and Pacific nations already experiencing the impacts of climate change.
She also hit back at Woodside CEO O’Neill’s, who accused young activists of hypocrisy over fast fashion.
“Blaming young people… is really hypocritical,” she added.
“We’re growing up in a cost-of-living crisis. Young people are literally just trying to get by.”
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