Minister speaks on Narrabri gas project

WATCH: Tara Moriarty speaks on the Narrabri gas project.

Transcript

00:00Do you support the Premier's possible compulsory acquisition of the Narrabri Gas Project?

00:06I do. The Premier was quite strong about this yesterday and we've got to drive our energy transition

00:11across New South Wales in a really rapid pace to be able to make sure we can continue delivering

00:18what we need to for industry and for households across the state. And he was very strong yesterday

00:24in saying to Santos, we are ready to support you. We want this project to be delivered.

00:28The government will do whatever it takes to support Santos now that it's over to them

00:33to make sure that they can get this project up and running. And we do need to drive future

00:38success for our energy industry, including gas. I do support what the Premier is proposing here

00:45because we do need to expand these resources in New South Wales.

00:50Is the government providing any support for landholders while they do negotiate to make

00:55sure that the terms are fair for both sides?

00:57Well, this was announced yesterday and this is a last resort. What we're saying to Santos

01:01is get on with it. We want this project to be delivered. We want this project to come

01:07to fruition. We will assist with making sure that that can happen with whatever means that

01:14we can use at our disposal. Now, of course, we will work closely with farmers. As I've indicated,

01:20I do that as the Minister for Agriculture and also as the Minister for Regional New South Wales

01:25and the government supports our farmers. But we have a broad industry across New South Wales

01:30that we also support. So we'll work closely if landholders are going to be impacted by this.

01:35But we are driving this project forward.

01:37And have you heard feedback from farmers who are concerned about lack of consultation, not

01:41just with Narrabri, but with renewables all across the state?

01:44I engage with farmers every day of the week about the opportunities that they have across the

01:51sector. And again, great success, a record year of success for our sector in New South Wales

01:56that I'm delighted to be announcing today full credit to our farmers for that. But we also

02:00work with them through change and through challenges. The renewable projects that we are rolling out

02:06across the state have been supported across the parliament. It was a bipartisan change

02:11that occurred under the previous government that we are continuing. It does have to happen quickly

02:15in order that we can continue to provide energy in the way that we need to in a more efficient way

02:21as we head to net zero. We need the whole community involved in that. We need to get these projects up

02:27and running. But we're also working with farmers and with communities about the opportunities that come from that.

02:33There is financial support that comes to communities, regional communities that are seeing these changes.

02:39And we want to continue to work with the whole community, including agriculture, to deliver these projects.

02:44It matters for the whole of New South Wales.