Basin carbon project to test LNP emissions reduction support

While its full energy policy is yet to be made public, the comments indicate the federal Liberals party room will stand against CCS in the basin, reflecting widespread public condemnation of a measure many believe risks the health of Australia's largest underground freshwater reservoir.

However, the David Crisafulli-led Queensland Liberal National Party's support of Labor's emissions targets is viewed by Canberra as a "challenge" to its own energy transition agenda and ability to prosecute the case for nuclear as it would be impossible for the two positions to stand together.

It is also feared the Queensland branch could be wedged through its support, particularly in the lead-up to the state election should Labor attempt to push through things like the GAB CCS legislation before entering caretaker mode, but also following the election should they go back on their promise.

The comments follow the LNP not opposing a Miles government bill to legislate emissions reduction targets of 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and 75pc by 2035 when it was tabled earlier this month.

Federal Liberal MP Garth Hamilton - with a section of his division of Groom lying within the Basin - said the Labor-supported Glencore project was part of the state government's decarbonisation solution the Queensland LNP had signed up to.

"Carbon capture is clearly part of the state government's net-zero plans, it is not what Glencore wants to do, it is not how they make money," he said.

"But companies will do it because it is what the government has required them to do and 100 per cent if you are not speaking up against it I have to assume you are for it.

"It also underlines that they have no alternate pathway, you cannot pick and choose projects. It is not great that this has happened."

While Mr Hamiton said the preferred option would be to test CCS in a small area away from the GAB if at all, "you are still producing it, still capturing it and still putting it somewhere."

"There is no perfect outcome here but if it is done wrong and in a rushed way then the impact could be really, really, really detrimental," he said.

"Nobody is happy, nobody is saying it is a good idea to take this massive risk with this freshwater resource.

"This is the first significant scale carbon capture project where we are burying emissions and we might destroy the Basin, it is not off to a great start.

"The (mining) engineer in me laughs at this idea. It is just pouring stuff into the ground and talking about jobs across regional Australia."

The LNP's support of Labor's plan also caused a brouhaha in Coalition ranks, with federal MPs slamming the Queensland branch for backing an "unachievable", "unaffordable", "reckless" and "rushed" 75pc target that could undermine local manufacturing and disrupt existing green industries.

The Labor plan is also drawing comparisons with Coalition MPs that poured public pressure on former Prime Minister Scott Morrison for attempting to enter the 2022 election race with a net-zero policy but not a credible plan as to how to reach it.

Prior to the last election Mr Morrison said CCS was part of the Liberals' long term emissions reduction plans.

In an environment of heightened voter awareness of emissions issues and more critical analysis of how parties promise to tackle them, politicking and not having a plan removes credibility when voters want blueprints.

This demands policy not just around offsetting and dealing with post-emissions, but also assessing the means of energy production. CCS has also been criticised as a tactic to slow fossil fuel phase outs.

A Senate Inquiry was recently called into the proposal to store waste carbon dioxide in the Great Artesian Basin by the Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation - a subsidiary of multinational mining giant Glencore.

CTSCo plans to capture carbon dioxide from the coal-fired Millmerran power station in southern Queensland, liquefy it and store it 2.3km underground, in the Precipice Sandstone aquifer.

It says no damage will come from its test injection of 330,000 tonnes into an aquifer that lies between two impermeable rock layers, meaning it's isolated from other aquifers that are tapped for agricultural or human use.

But AgForce fears the three-year trial could be dangerous for the entire basin, which supports $13 billion of economic activity across Queensland, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and has taken federal court action to try to halt the project.

Nationals leader David Littleproud late last year moved an amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to tighten assessments of carbon sequestration projects, including in the GAB, but not to necessarily stop them.

Meanwhile, the Peter Dutton led Coalition promised several weeks ago to release details of its energy policy prior to the forthcoming Budget.

So far it has flagged a mix of renewables, gas and working to lift a moratorium on nuclear energy to allow reactors to be built on the site of decommissioned coal-fired power stations.

However, Mr Crisafulli has also refused to back nuclear power because he believes it would never realise the federal bipartisan support needed to work while a moratorium banning its production remained in place.

The federal division has labelled those comments "unhelpful" as it remains "happy with its nuclear position".

It is believed the states have been left out of discussing nuclear energy with federal colleagues until it becomes clearer how the moratorium can be reversed.

The "challenge" is when Queensland "supports Labor's emissions targets without a plan, without a pathway" and narratives increase around nuclear being impossible by 2035, "we might, but you have to be starting now".

The LNP were contacted for comment.