We shouldn't foot the bill for fracking pipelines

The NT Government is calling for the Albanese Government to subsidise a $6 billion Beetaloo fracking pipeline to export ports in Queensland.

We shouldn’t have to pay for a 1561km pipeline so frackers can export gas overseas, especially given that the Albanese Government refuses to implement a gas tax.

While the project is being split in two for assessment at a State and Territory level, the truth is that this is a single, massive, fracked gas export pipeline that could deliver the gas industry the infrastructure it needs to roll out thousands of fracking wells across the NT.

No fracking project in the NT has ever been assessed at a Federal level, so this will be a major test of how willing the Albanese Government is to stand up to frackers and ensure the Beetaloo export pipeline is assessed at the highest level under Federal environment laws

The pipeline would cut through habitat for threatened species and some of the world's last remaining free-flowing desert river systems.

We can't let this happen.

With gas pipeline giant APA group set to shortly refer plans for the fracking export pipeline to Environment Minister Murray Watt, it’s time to tell the Albanese Government to say NO to the gas lobby’s export pipeline!

Dear Prime Minister, Minister Bowen, Minister Ayres and Minister King,

The APA group will shortly refer plans for a massive 1580km fracked gas export pipeline to Environment Minister Murray Watt.

The Albanese Government must rule out subsidies to make taxpayers pay for this fracking pipeline.

In the recent Nightcliff by-election, Labor pledged to oppose handouts to support a fracked gas pipeline in the NT.

But in response to a Question on Notice from Budget Estimates in May 2026, Minister Tim Ayres said that “the Australian Government has no plans to provide public funding or financial support for the construction of pipeline infrastructure to deliver gas out of the Beetaloo Basin.”

This is not good enough.

Renowned for the vast floodplain system of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin, Channel Country is one of the world's last free-flowing desert river systems and hosts incredible biodiversity and sites of cultural significance.

Fracking pipelines in the NT are a risky, expensive gamble - they cost billions.

The Australian Pipeline Association has openly admitted that “Beetaloo is principally going to be an LNG export play.”

AEMO has found that the cost of producing gas from the Beetaloo is 176% higher than existing Queensland sources.

If Top End fracking is detonated, it could single-handedly undo all efforts to cut Australia’s climate emissions.

The Albanese Government must choose where they stand: with gas companies or Territorians  who want our water and climate protected?

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