Traditional owners of the Goolarabooloo clan group told NITV News they were “thrilled" when Woodside Petroleum announced it would shelf the $50 billion Browse LNG project in Western Australia.
“Good riddance, they’re gone, we don’t want to see them back,” traditional owner Phil Roe told NITV News on Thursday.
Law man and relative Errol Roe adds the stalling has been worth the communities’ protests against the project.
“We and all the people that fought this campaign were pretty ecstatic,” he says.
The Goolarabooloo people say the biggest relief for them is that the land is free from threat, for now.
“In the short term it's good Woodside’s pulled out, it’s good news all over, and the stress of having to fight for our land is gone,” Errol Roe says.
In a world of low prices, Woodside chief Peter Coleman told The Australian the $50 billion project wasn’t going to get the savings required to go ahead.
“We’re at $US 40 today, the break even for it is in the $US 50 to $US 60 range and so you’re basically betting on the fact prices are going to improve,” Mr Coleman says.
Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg told NITV News he is disappointed.
“Australia has been the great beneficiary of more than $200 billion of production capacity investment in our LNG sector over the past decade,” he said Thursday.
“Despite this challenging time, Australia’s energy and resources sector remains strong, contributing around 10 per cent of our GDP and employing around 300,000 Australians.”
With Philip Ly
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