Pacific leaders uneasy over Australia's backing of a WA gas project

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia's climate record has come under scrutiny at the Pacific Leaders' Forum in Solomon Islands ahead of the government's final decision on whether to approve a massive gas project in Western Australia.

Transcript

00:00A PM at odds with his Pacific counterparts mid-speech, a swift exit and a not-so-subtle

00:11shirt change.

00:12You've got to reiterate quite a lot to the Australians what they need to be doing and

00:17the rules sometimes.

00:18The dress code disharmony the least of the PM's pressures as Pacific leaders took a

00:23front row seat to rising seas.

00:26The lack of meaningful action by the world's highest emitters continue to put our very

00:33existence at risk.

00:35After sharing plenty of laughs with his counterparts, now a decision looms which might test those

00:41bonds as the government prepares to decide whether to give a final tick of approval to

00:46extend the life of Australia's biggest oil and gas project out to 2070.

00:52We know that gas has an important role to play in the transition.

00:59Some advocates see it as pure betrayal.

01:02It's a clear attack on Pacific right to exist and Pacific values.

01:07And some of the Pacific's most powerful voices warn it might also breach the landmark International

01:12Court of Justice ruling on climate change.

01:15Fossil fuel production expansion is an internationally wrongful act under international law.

01:22The government's making it clear it will continue to export gas, saying if it wound down the industry

01:28it would hurt key trading partners, damage the economy and destroy domestic political support

01:34for the energy transition Australia's undertaking right now.

01:38Some Pacific leaders say they understand, others are utterly unconvinced.

01:44Even in matching shirts, it's not all smooth sailing.

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