“I’ll sign, you drill:” State puts oil and gas project on fast-track, two days after “calling in” another big battery

The Queensland LNP government has streamlined approvals for a controversial new oil field – the first in Australia in half a century – at the same time as erecting another barrier for a major big battery project.

Queensland deputy premier and planning minister Jarrod Bleijie on Friday said the government had “approved overnight” a new Works Regulation that will allow the Coordinator-General to expedite development of the Taroom Trough oil and gas field in the state’s Bowen Basin.

“Coordinated development in the Taroom Trough ensures the most efficient and fast-tracked pathway for its development to bolster the nation’s long-term fuel security, and helps deliver regional investment and jobs for our rural and regional communities sooner,” Bleijie said in a statement.

“The Taroom Trough is a credible opportunity for Queensland to drive its own destiny again and ensure we’re no longer at the mercy of foreign nations and at the end of a global supply chain.”

Minister for natural resources and mines, Dale Last, kept his comments on the move short and sweet: “My message to industry is clear; I’ll sign, you drill,” he sad.

The “swift and decisive action” on Taroom Trough sits in stark contrast to barriers that the Crisafulli government has erected to the planning and approvals process for large-scale solar, wind and battery storage since the start of 2025.

Five projects ranging from stand-alone big batteries, wind farms and hybrid renewable projects are currently languishing on Bleijie’s list of “ministerial call-ins”.

One of these – Iberdrola Australia’s 500 megawatt (MW) Bundaberg Regional Battery proposed for Gin Gin – was just this week formally called in, after being in limbo since February.

On his decision to call in the Gin Gin battery, Bleijie cited the 337 public submissions made during the representation period, including objections to the proposal that “raised concerns about fire risk, environmental impacts, contamination, life cycle costs, the level of energy supply to Gin Gin, traffic impacts and cyber security risks.”

Submissions in support of the proposal, the minister said, “highlighted the need for infrastructure, investment in the community, economic benefits and environmental safeguards.”

The LNP government has also changed the law to prevent the 1.2 gigawatt Forest Wind project from going ahead, in what one despairing activist called “an act of bastardry.”

Meanwhile, its energy roadmap has dedicated $1.6 billion to keeping coal power stations running past their use-by date, which has led to state companies such as Stanwell from cancelling investments in the sector. 

As for Taroom, questions are being asked about whether it is really the “sea of oil” it has been painted as. As this Conversation article explains, the “tight” oil and gas are trapped in rock 3-4 km underground and require hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, to be extracted.

“Fracking uses large volumes of water, which companies would likely look to draw from the Great Artesian Basin and the nearby Dawson River, or use recycled water from the fracking process,” the article says.

“Either way, the region’s large agricultural sector may oppose oil and gas interests using water – especially given concerns around possible pollution of groundwater. Previous attempts to frack agricultural areas triggered strong resistance from groups such as Lock the Gate.”

Queensland Conservation Council, Climate Lead, Jenny Brown said the decision to fast track oil, gas and coal projects will alarm “every Queenslander” who cares about the local environment and the Great Barrier Reef. 

“Fast tracking coal, gas and oil projects left, right and centre shows a recklessness and lack of care about the impacts they will have on Queensland’s precious water resources, local ecosystems and the jobs and communities they support,” she said in a statement.

“The Great Barrier Reef is already facing major risk from climate change. Each additional project that is fast tracked by this government is another blow to the Reef and the 70,000 jobs it supports, with very little return for Queenslanders.” 

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