New govt wants WA action on Browse
Incoming Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane wants to have a "frank" private discussion with Colin Barnett to get the multibillion- dollar Browse liquefied natural gas project hurried along.
In an interview with The West Australian on the eve of his swearing-in today, Mr Macfarlane confirmed that WA would get a slice of the royalties if the Woodside-led consortium's preference for floating LNG technology proceeded.
But in a signal the Federal Government intends being a tough negotiator, Mr Macfarlane said the Commonwealth would claim ownership of most of the offshore gas fields that make up Browse.
The Premier's preference for a gas processing plant at James Price Point was found to be uneconomic by the consortium earlier this year.
"If (Browse) can't be done onshore I'm prepared to accept a floater and then it'll be a fight over royalties, remembering that with the exception of a small amount around one of the islands, the gas all belongs to the Commonwealth and will all be covered by PRRT (Petroleum Resource Rent Tax)," Mr Macfarlane said.
"So that's a negotiation between Colin Barnett and Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey and probably (new Finance Minister and WA senator) Mathias Cormann - it'll be interesting to see what side he's on."
Key to the royalty split will be establishing the proportional ownership of Torosa, the biggest of the Browse gas fields, which straddles State and Federal jurisdictions.
Mr Macfarlane said that within two to three weeks he wanted to meet the Premier in Perth to discuss Browse, which he said was his "absolute priority in the West".
"That's a discussion I want to have on his turf, in his office but with the door closed and no journalists within earshot - it might be a frank exchange but that's fine, I'm used to talking straight," Mr Macfarlane said.
"I'm keen to make sure that Western Australia doesn't miss out but let's get the gas out of the ground and fight over the money later."
Mr Barnett said last night: "The problem the Browse project now faces is it is no longer aligned on ownership, development, environmental or domestic gas requirements."
