Submission to the Environment and Communications References Committee Inquiry into the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct. 

We wish to start by acknowledging the tireless advocacy of many individuals and organisations who fought for this Inquiry. We thank them for ensuring greater oversight and accountability, as well as the opportunity for broader community input, regarding the proposed Middle Arm Industrial Precinct. 

Summary

We seek to highlight the voices of young people in Darwin and their concerns regarding the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct. Darwin has the youngest population of all capital cities in Australia [1], and as young people we seek to have our voices heard. We are growing up in a climate crisis – we are living through intense heatwaves, massive bushfires, and record-breaking floods. We will grow old in a climate crisis – Darwin is predicted to be unlivable by 2070 [2]. The safest option will be to leave. For some, this won’t be an option. 

The NT Government betrays its young people when it actively seeks out and undertakes developments that expand and further entrench polluting and extractive industries. They know the reality; they know that our futures are being sacrificed. They are not listening. As young people living in Darwin, we hold a different vision for the future of our home. We want investment in the needs of the community, like health and education, rather than in a gas hub. Our communities deserve better. All of us want clean air and water, a healthy environment, and a safe future to grow up in.

We demand that the federal government take strong action to stop fossil fuel expansion, and that includes stopping this development at Middle Arm. 


We emphasise three key points:

1. There must be a full and thorough environmental, climate and health impacts assessment of industrial expansion at Middle Arm - including climate and health impacts of gas extraction in the Beetaloo and Barossa basins. 
2. Free, prior and informed consent of Larrakia Traditional Owners must be obtained for the precinct, whatever the configuration of industries at the site.
3. Public money should not be handed out to gas corporations for the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.
   
   

There must be a full and thorough environmental, climate and health impacts assessment of industrial expansion at Middle Arm - including climate and health impacts of gas extraction in the Beetaloo and Barossa basins. 

Darwin, our home, is being treated as a sacrifice zone by the rest of the country and by the gas industry. The health of our communities, and the liveability of Darwin, are under threat by this project [3]. The Morrison Government committed almost $2 Billion to Middle Arm with no climate impact analysis and no public health analysis. 

Climate impacts

It is clear that Middle Arm is a gas expansion project. Freedom of information requests show that Middle Arm’s business case was heavily focused on Middle Arm’s potential as a ‘new gas demand centre’ which would help unlock gas extraction in the Beetaloo and Barossa basins [4]. The project includes the expansion of gas export facilities and infrastructure that the former government cited as being required for gas extraction in the Beetaloo basin [5]. 

Gas is a dangerous fossil fuel that will worsen the climate crisis, threatening our communities for decades to come. An assessment report by environmental health and policy scientist Michael D. Petroni found Middle Arm would have significant climate impacts and become the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the NT, increasing total annual NT emissions by approximately 75% [6]. 

Young people in Darwin have the most to lose from climate change, yet we are not being listened to when we voice our concerns over Middle Arm. From extreme heat to devastating floods, we are already feeling the impact of climate change, and we fear what is to come if we don’t halt gas production now. 

Health impacts 

The Petroni report also found the industrial development at Middle Arm would have significant climate and health impacts, including increasing air pollution and cancer risk several times over [7]. According to a 2020 review of 16 epidemiological studies, communities living within 5km of petrochemical facilities had a 30% higher chance of developing leukaemia [8]. 

These risks increase dramatically for young people. Studies have shown that children living near gas operations in the US have higher rates of low birth weight, birth defects, childhood cancers, and respiratory conditions [9]. Palmerston is just 3km away from Middle Arm, with more than half the population aged under 29 [10].

Free, prior and informed consent of Larrakia Traditional Owners must be obtained for the precinct, whatever the configuration of industries at the site.

As young people living, working and studying on Larrakia Country, we stand with Larrakia people. We cannot achieve a safe climate future without justice and self-determination for First Nations people, who have been caring for Country for tens of thousands of years. 

The Federal funding commitment to the Middle Arm industrial precinct was made without consultation with Larrakia families [11]. The peninsula is a site of immense cultural significance to the Larrakia people, including some of the only remaining petroglyphs in Darwin, thought to be the only Larrakia rock art to have survived colonisation.

Since the funding was first announced, Traditional Owners have voiced opposition to the development. Larrakia Elders and senior people have spoken on the potential harms of Middle Arm, including to the rock art. They were also critical of the lack of consultation and consent. In a statement to the Guardian in May 2023, Larrakia Elder Bill Risk said “you want to talk about free, prior and informed consent? There isn’t any. We haven’t been spoken to. We would say quite clearly we do not want it. They haven’t reached out. They haven’t spoken to us.” [12]

Public money should not be handed out to gas corporations for the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.

We call on the Inquiry to recommend that no public money supports the construction of infrastructure that will be used for the benefit of the gas industry at Middle Arm. The federal $1.9 billion stake must not benefit gas companies or the gas industry if the Albanese Government is to keep to its existing climate and industry policy commitments. 

As demonstrated by freedom of information documents, the funding promised for Middle Arm by the Commonwealth is shown to be a fossil fuel subsidy, and will directly fund the gas industry [13]. American gas company Tamboran has even used the federal stake in Middle Arm as a selling point for investors in their Beetaloo fracking project [14]. Public money should be used for public good, not to prop up destructive gas. Communities on the ground - particularly those already living with the impacts of fossil fuel extraction and/or experiencing extreme weather due to the climate crisis - would receive far greater benefit from the public money intended for the gas industry. 

Seeing billions of dollars used to fund fossil fuels is a slap in the face to young people in Darwin struggling with a rising cost of living. Darwin has amongst the highest youth unemployment rates in the country [15], and we are being shut out of essential services, with healthcare across the Territory closing affordable bulk billing options [16], and the soaring rental market quickly becoming out of reach to young people. A 2022 report found that people on youth allowance could not afford a single rental or even share-house in the NT [17]. We need investment in the future of our community, not the gas industry.

Young people across the country have demonstrated time and time again that we want an end to all fossil fuels subsidies. This is an opportunity to listen to our call. We ask that the committee consult with Traditional Owners and the local Northern Territory community on the best use of the $1.9 billion investment.

We demand that the federal government protects our future by ending all public subsidies towards fossil fuel expansion at Middle arm, ensuring that any development at Middle Arm is conditional on the full, prior and informed consent of Larrakia people, and ensuring that a thorough assessment is conducted of climate and health impacts of industrial expansion at Middle Arm. 

We have attached an artwork with quotes from young people in Darwin, alongside submissions from our members and supporters from across the Northern Territory, articulating their opposition to the proposed development at Middle Arm. 

References:

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022, “Regional population by age and sex”, available online
2. Hayley Taylor, 2023, “Three Australian regions that will become unlivable within a lifetime due to climate change” 7News, available online. 
3. The Australia Institute, 2018, “Cooked with gas”, available online. 
4. Gibson, J., 2022, “Business case for Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct triggers climate concerns from critics,” ABC News, available online.
5. The Australian Government, 2021, “Unlocking the Beetaloo: The Beetaloo Strategic Basin Plan”, available online 
6. Petroni, M., 2022, “Expert Opinions Related to Potential Environmental and Human Health Impacts of the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct as well as the Adequacy of the Draft Terms of Reference for Strategic Assessment”, available online
7. Petroni, M., 2022, “Expert Opinions Related to Potential Environmental and Human Health Impacts of the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct as well as the Adequacy of the Draft Terms of Reference for Strategic Assessment”, available online
8. Jephcote, C., et al., 2020, “A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Haematological Malignancies in Residents Living near Petrochemical Facilities”, Environmental Health, available online
9. Tom Perkins, 2022, “Children born near fracking wells more at risk for leukemia”, The Guardian, available online. 
10. Territory Families, 2019, “Palmerston Youth Action Plan” available online. 
11. Lisa Cox, 2023, “Darwin’s Middle Arm Hub Threatens Indigenous Rock Art, Traditional Owners Say” The Guardian, available online
12. Lisa Cox, 2023, “Darwin’s Middle Arm Hub Threatens Indigenous Rock Art, Traditional Owners Say” The Guardian, available online
13. Environment Centre NT, 2022, “Media release: Environment groups slam Middle Arm Budget announcement, calling it a fossil fuel subsidy for a petrochemical precinct,” available online
14. Tamboran Resources, 2023, “Building a gross 1.5 BCFD low-cost Beetaloo Basin gas development by 2030” available online. 
15. NT Government, 2023, “Labor Market” available online 
16. Jack Hislop and Conor Byrne, 2022 “Bulk-billing clinics in the Northern Territory unable to survive on Medicare rebate alone” ABC News, available online 
17. Anglicare, 2022, “Rental Affordability in the Northern Territory” available online.