MEDIA RELEASE 29 June 2018 |

Two project proposals – the Crib Point AGL gas import project and the Kawasaki Hydrogen Energy Supply pilot – have raised community concerns over the environmental, social and economic risks to the values of Western Port Bay.

Save Westernport and Westernport & Peninsula Protection Council are hosting a rally supported by Environment Victoria, the Victorian National Parks Association, Friends of the . Earth and Blue Wedges Coalition to voice concerns over two proposals:

  • Crib Point AGL project floating regasification proposal which will ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) from around the globe to a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at Crib Point;
  • The Kawasaki coal-to-hydrogen pilot project to export hydrogen to Japan out of Hastings.

Environment Victoria’s CEO Mark Wakeham said:

“These dirty coal and gas proposals could increase Victoria’s climate pollution at a moment in time when we should be doing everything we can to tackle global warming.

“Incredibly, AGL’s project could end up importing gas that was originally extracted from Victoria, piped to Queensland, refrigerated, liquefied and shipped back to Crib Point for regasification with every one of these steps increasing greenhouse pollution.

“Australia’s Energy Market Operator confirmed last week that there is no gas shortage. So there is no justification for AGL to barge ahead with this polluting new project.”

Save Westernport spokesperson Louise Page said:

“The project is a short term measure that has long term consequences and potentially threatens the environment and safety of the local community.

“The project has also been criticised by Victorian and Federal Ministers and MPs as being illogical, short-sighted and a symptom of a broken gas market and should not go ahead.”

The Victorian National Parks Association’s Nature Campaigner Shannon Hurley said:

“This project poses significant risk to the high natural values of Westernport Bay – being an internationally significant Ramsar site, it provides critical habitat for migratory birds, and is home to one of the most southerly extents of mangrove species globally.

“The Bay also has a high productivity of marine vegetation that supports a very wide range of marine mammals, fish and invertebrates.”

Louise Page continued:

“The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project by the Kawasaki consortium, which has already received state and federal funding, plans to turn Latrobe Valley brown coal into hydrogen, and ship it to Japan.

“Continuing to invest in the dying fossil fuel industry is an equally bad decision at a time when we need to be investing more in rapidly transitioning to the growing market of renewable energy.”

The risk from the increase in development and shipping from both of these projects will threaten the high conservation and economic value of Western Port Bay.

The rally will take place at the Fred Smith Reserve, Hastings Foreshore this Sunday 1st July 1pm. We encourage all concerned community members to join to oppose these two projects.