'Safe air' bill passes NT parliament following Inpex, Santos scandals

In short:

A scheme to monitor and publicly report toxic air pollutants emitted by the gas industry on Darwin Harbour can now be set up, after a bill passed Northern Territory parliament.

The NT Environment Minister says the scheme will be running by "the middle of next year" and will monitor volatile organic compounds such as cancer-causing Benzene.

An independent politician and the NT opposition say details about the scheme should have been enshrined in law.

Toxic air pollutants emitted by the gas industry on Darwin Harbour are set to be monitored and publicly reported after new laws passed Northern Territory parliament on Thursday.

The Country Liberal Party (CLP) government's "safe air" bill allows an environmental monitoring scheme to be established, following a toxic emissions scandal involving Inpex and a decades-long methane leak and cover up by ConocoPhillips and Santos at the Darwin LNG facility.

NT Lands, Planning and Environment Minister Joshua Burgoyne said although there were already air quality monitoring stations around Darwin Harbour, they did not measure volatile organic compound emissions such as cancer-causing Benzene.

The only current measurements of volatile organic compounds in Darwin are being undertaken by gas companies, as required under their licence conditions.

Inpex is being prosecuted by the NT Environment Protection Authority after under-reporting benzene emissions by 13,000 per cent and toluene emissions — which can irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory tract — by 11,000 per cent.

Under the scheme, which Mr Burgoyne said would be "in place" by "the middle of next year", six new monitoring stations around Darwin Harbour would measure for volatile organic compounds.

"The will give Territorians certainty that the air they breathe is safe," he said.

"We want them to know that as we industrialise the harbour, and as we continue to have companies that come to the Northern Territory, that we can continue to develop, and that it's safe to do so.

"The monitoring that will be available for everyone to see will give people certainty in that space."

Mr Burgoyne said the scheme would be paid for by industry and "Territorians will not be paying", although the bill only states "specified persons or classes of persons" may be required to "make contributions towards all or part of the costs".

The scheme will be overseen "by the environment department and the NT EPA", Mr Burgoyne said.

"We, as a government, are saying to those that want to come to the Territory and obviously put carbon dioxide and other volatile organic compounds into the air, that we want to ensure that it is monitored.

"That we can monitor how much of that is going into the Darwin airshed, so that we can tell whether or not we can continue to industrialise."

Criticism over lack of detail

Both a crossbench MLA and the opposition have criticised the government for not creating laws about the scheme in the bill.

Independent Justine Davis said "it beggars belief that a bill with 'safe air' in the title contains no definition of safe air".

"[There is] no clarity about what toxins will be measured, no information about where monitoring will take place, and what happens to companies who do the wrong thing," she said.

"Both [Mr Burgoyne] and the department have said they are committed to safe air for Territorians and being transparent about it, so it's hard to understand why none of that is actually spelled out in the bill.

"Instead, the detail will be left to [departmental] regulations, which can be written behind closed doors and changed at the discretion of a minister."

Ms Davis said the NT Department of Lands, Planning and Environment revealed consultation about the scheme had so far only been undertaken with industry.

"That is, the industry creating the pollution is who the government is listening to, and that there is no plan to consult with health experts, independent environment experts, or the public at all,"she said.

"'Trust us' is not good enough when we are talking about the same industry that under-reported its cancer-linked benzene emissions by 13,000 per cent in 2025."

Shadow Environment Minister Manuel Brown said the bill was an opportunity for the government to have put "stronger protections in place", such as pollution limits.

"But instead it's left the most important details out of the bill," he said.