Australia Minister Urged to Correct Beetaloo Offset Claim

Australia's resources minister, Madeleine King, is facing calls to correct a statement that greenhouse gas emissions from the Beetaloo gas basin are offset.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra in defence of developing the basin south of Darwin, King said her understanding was that Beetaloo emissions "are accounted for and offset, but I would have to check that" The Guardian. She described the basin as a "very important resource" for the Northern Territory and to help supply gas to Australia's east coast and export markets.

King appeared with Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro to mark the first gas being pumped from the basin.

The claim has drawn scrutiny because of the history of fracking in the Territory. The Pepper inquiry, a 2018 government-commissioned investigation into whether fracking should be allowed in the Northern Territory, made 135 recommendations. They included that the NT and Australian governments should aim to ensure onshore shale gas developments did not increase Australia's total emissions.

The NT government does not require emissions from the Beetaloo basin to be offset. The previous Labor NT government dropped that requirement after objections from the gas industry, and the Country Liberal party government kept that position after its election in 2024.

At the federal level, Australia's safeguard mechanism applies to facilities emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. It covers only pollution directly from the facility, not full lifecycle emissions from extraction, processing, transport and use.

Research by Tim Baxter of Naru Research found about 95% of emissions expected from four Beetaloo basin gas projects this decade would not have to be offset. Baxter said King either "isn't across her brief or she's being intentionally misleading" on Beetaloo offsets.