‘Shrill’ critics of gas will only cost jobs: Santos boss
Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher says the “shrill voices” of climate activists and politicians in affluent electorates will cost the country jobs and ultimately reduce living standards of average Australians if they succeed in blocking new gas projects.
Speaking in Perth on Wednesday after the Federal Court extended an injunction on works for a major Santos pipeline through the Tiwi Islands, Mr Gallagher said ongoing climate litigation would not improve Australia’s energy transition.
“No amount of climate litigation will make the energy transition faster or stop the oil and gas projects needed to meet the world’s energy demands,” he told the WA Energy Club.
“But if it continues, it will cost Australian jobs, it will drive up energy prices, and it will damage our economy.”
Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher in Perth on Wednesday. Matt Jelonek
“The gas will just come from somewhere else because people will not sacrifice their living standards.”
New gas projects would be critical in supplementing Australia’s energy needs during the transition away from fossil fuels, Mr Gallagher said.
“The shrill voices and climate activists, including the politicians who represent the wealthiest voters in Australia, continue to call for no new oil and gas projects [and] have no regard for the cost-of-living pressures facing ordinary Australians in the outer suburbs of our cities.
“They want to make things harder for them by diverting taxpayer money away from essential services like health and to subsidies for uneconomic energy technologies and, of course, the Teslas garaged in the wealthiest electorates across the country.”
As Santos was hit by another delay to its Barossa pipeline project after a Tiwi Island traditional owner
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