What is Middle Arm
Middle Arm is a proposed industrial precinct and gas exporting hub, planned for Darwin Harbour, propped up by over $1.5 billion in funding from the Federal Government.
Located just 3km outside Palmerston city, the facility would include petrochemical processing and carbon dumping, alongside expanded gas exporting designed to open up the NT for fracking.
Source: ABC News
From the inception of this project, it was designed to facilitate the opening of gas basins in the Beetaloo and Barossa. Gas extraction in these basins has faced strong opposition from Traditional Owners, and would release significant amounts of methane and CO2.
The Middle Arm Gas Hub would be the NT’s single largest emitter, raising the territory’s emissions by 75%, and would increase particulate pollution by over 500%, resulting in $75 million in additional health costs, equivalent to 15 additional premature deaths per year.
In the 2022 budget update, we saw a commitment of $1.9 billion for Middle Arm by the Albanese Labor Government. After pushback against public money for gas, the funding was moved off budget to be managed by Infrastructure Australia. By moving Middle Arm’s funding off-budget, Labor has reduced the amount of transparency and public scrutiny that the funding gets. This led to a senate inquiry into the project, which will hand down recommendations in August 2024.
