Kirsty Howey

ACF FOI docs show tt Rachel Parry (then DepSec DCCEEW) & KylieCoulhan (WA EnvAssmt) exchanged ~200 txts w WoodCIDE re approval conditions

“Rachel–we are about to send you our response which identifies 3 items of factual correctness which if modified would then constitute a document we can accept”

“Only time will tell when, if and for whom the Albanese Government proposes to use these new powers to effectively exempt offshore gas regulation from our federal nature laws,” writes Kirsty Howey, Executive Director of the Environment Centre NT.

Read more on The Point: https://theaus.in/4kxfoSt

ICYMI, cos the Albanese govt sure would like you to have missed the special carve out for the fossil fuel industry buried in Australia's new EPBC laws that @kirstyhowey.bsky.social exposes here

The devil is in the devolution: are the states mounting an EPBC takeover? Speaking to the press after passage of amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act last Thursday, Western Australian Premier, Roger Cook, indicated that he expect...

Largely overlooked by the media, last Thursday’s amendments to the EPBC Act in fact enable quite radical changes to the structure of environmental decision-making in this country - writes @kirstyhowey.bsky.social & Simon Copland
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

The devil is in the devolution: are the states mounting an EPBC takeover? Speaking to the press after passage of amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act last Thursday, Western Australian Premier, Roger Cook, indicated that he expect...

Great piece on new env laws. Key point on more powers to states:

"Smaller govs in particular, such as the ACT and the NT, often struggle to properly enforce their own environmental laws."

By @kirstyhowey.bsky.social & Simon Copland in @thepointau.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Fear Santos gas plan may start fracking rush that poses ‘major risk’ to NT water supply Fossil fuel company plans to expand exploration in Beetaloo basin

In the hubbub over EPBC laws, news of Santos making its biggest ever gas fracking play in the Beetaloo basin has flown under the radar

One to watch as @kirstyhowey.bsky.social notes that "not a single NT fracking project has been referred or assessed under federal environment laws, ever"

The scale is extraordinary: noting that the Clean Energy Council modelled that only 120,000 hectares of land would be needed across Australia for the energy transition. Sun Cable’s proposed projects in the NT would cover more than half of that: cleanenergycouncil.org.au/for-consumer...

#EPBC #BiodiversityOffsets 🧵

First thing to note is that biodiversity offsets do NOT address historic losses (i.e they won't help catch up on or make good already incurred habitat & biodiversity losses) 1/

Gambling regulator stops accepting gifts from betting companies, for now The announcement comes six months after the ABC first reported the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission chair had accepted corporate hospitality from bookmakers.

Gaming regulator announces temporary halt on accepting bribes www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

‘Conservation outcomes don’t get much bigger than this’: Great Koala National Park announced A moratorium on logging will commence on Monday, while final legislation to create the park will await a federal decision on whether the state can earn carbon credits for protecting forest.

‘In what Wilderness Australia described as “the most significant outcome for forest conservation in NSW in 25 years”, the government has committed to the full 176,000 hectares.’

www.smh.com.au/environment/...

'Huge' leak from gas plant kept secret from public in 'national scandal' Documents reveal the scale of carbon pollution leaking from a Darwin LNG tank was like adding 8,300 new cars to the road every year. It is about to be filled again.

"Northern Territory regulators found out about the DLNG leak in 2020, just hours after signing off on a proposal to extend its operations until 2050.

It briefly sparked concerns of an explosion risk to people in Darwin and nearby Palmerston, 7 and 11 kilometres away respectively."

'Huge' leak from gas plant kept secret from public in 'national scandal' Documents reveal the scale of carbon pollution leaking from a Darwin LNG tank was like adding 8,300 new cars to the road every year. It is about to be filled again.

Kirsty Howey, ED at Environment Ctr NT: “the handling of the leak represents a ‘national scandal.’…A cover-up…by @ConocoPhillips, @Santos &…regulators. To know that there has been #methane leaking…in huge quantities is…shocking. 6/6 #climate #polluters @abc #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

'Huge' leak from gas plant kept secret from public in 'national scandal' Documents reveal the scale of carbon pollution leaking from a Darwin LNG tank was like adding 8,300 new cars to the road every year. It is about to be filled again.

This is so, so cooked.

“The decision whether to repair the leak is a commercial decision made by Santos,” NT Environment Protection Authority says.

In a statement, Santos says the tank “remains fit and safe for service for the life of the Barossa gas project”.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

'Huge' leak from gas plant kept secret from public in 'national scandal' Documents reveal the scale of carbon pollution leaking from a Darwin LNG tank was like adding 8,300 new cars to the road every year. It is about to be filled again.

MASSIVE❗

"there has been methane leaking from the facility in huge quantities" (since 2006)

“What we have here is a cover-up at every conceivable scale, by ConocoPhillips, by Santos and by a range of regulators”

NTEPA, NT WorkSafe, Clean Energy Regulator, NOPSEMA, & CSIRO all knew about the leak

'Huge' leak from gas plant kept secret from public in 'national scandal' Documents reveal the scale of carbon pollution leaking from a Darwin LNG tank was like adding 8,300 new cars to the road every year. It is about to be filled again.

ABC investigation reveals Santos gas hub in Darwin has been leaking gas for nearly two decades. #auspol @kirstyhowey.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

'Huge' leak from gas plant kept secret from public in 'national scandal' Documents reveal the scale of carbon pollution leaking from a Darwin LNG tank was like adding 8,300 new cars to the road every year. It is about to be filled again.

“What we have here is a cover-up at every conceivable scale, by ConocoPhillips, by Santos and by a range of regulators... And it will be shocking to the people of Darwin and Palmerston when they realise the extent of the cover-up.” - @kirstyhowey.bsky.social

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

The abundance agenda brainworm has infected Labor's climate change reform The Productivity Commission wants us to focus on the 'costs' of climate action, neutralising an urgent safety issue into a bland optimisation and efficiency project, and in doing so, ridding it of any...

Banger of a piece here from the brilliant @ketanjoshi.co

Detail about how Inpex is increasing emissions while being gifted carbon credits under the Safeguard Mechanism. And general observations about "Abundance Brain".

Read it.

NEW: Incredible scenes in Sydney, Australia today as tens of thousands march for Gaza, demanding an end to the genocide.

#MarchForHumanity

(🎥 Ema Franklin)

Heading to Court tomorrow in Sydney for this important climate ruling!!

newshub.medianet.com.au/2025/07/cour...

Coorong 'on the brink' amid fears algal bloom could be final straw After decades of environmental degradation, South Australia's internationally significant Coorong wetlands are now at risk of becoming a "wasteland" due to the state's toxic algal bloom, advocates fea...

Devastating news for Kurangk/the Coorong.

"We previously had 20 to 30 per cent of the Coorong that was healthy, and that is the area that the Karenia bloom has hit." - Faith Coleman

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

I’m really sorry to hear about this. John was instrumental in bringing the story of struggle against NT fossil fuel projects to the big smoke.

If I can sum up what just happened as neatly as possible: a Federal Court judge found the Australian government had ignored climate science when setting emissions targets, appeared to want to find for the applicants, but said his hands were tied by the law of negligence in Australia.

/1

Kumanjayi Walker shooting inquest: coroner finds NT police officer Zachary Rolfe 'was racist' Zachary Rolfe, who shot Walker in Yuendumu in 2019, used unnecessary force during five previous arrests, coroner says

My late partner made, on behalf of her clients, multiple complaints about the behaviour of this cop. They were ignored. Her employer did not support her and she was ultimately fired for urging action.

The northern territory does not deserve to govern itself.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Labor is open to fresh options to secure east coast gas supplies. Is it about to make a radical shift? Further intervention seems on the cards after the federal government announced a broader review of the gas market, despite its criticism of Peter Dutton’s reservation plan

I know I'm on this one a lot folks but it is very notable that the fact gas is a fossil fuel that needs to be eliminated from human society ASAP (no matter who owns it or profits from it) really doesn't seem to feature anywhere in these debates or coverage of these debates

"Lidia Thorpe, David Pocock & the Greens demand action after Good Advice & Empire Energy allegedly offered private deals to traditional owners to smooth the way for gas sales"

Thank goodness 4 @lisacox.bsky.social cos despite qns in Senate ests by @senatorthorpe.bsky.social msm's shown lil interest

Calls for ‘urgent’ investigation into lobbying activities of fracking advocate and gas company Lidia Thorpe, David Pocock and the Greens demand action after Good Advice and Empire Energy allegedly offered private deals to traditional owners to smooth the way for gas sales

Calls for ‘urgent’ investigation into lobbying activities of fracking advocate and gas company

'Lowest point we've been': minister behind Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody slams inaction Former federal minister for Indigenous Affairs Robert Tickner has begged the Prime Minister to show leadership over the recent deaths in custody in the Northern Territory.

The Northern Territory is the second most imprisoned region in the world, following El Salvador.

Almost 90 per cent of adult prisoners and close to 99 per cent of youth incarcerated in the NT are Indigenous.

First nations people make up only 26% of NT

www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article...

The only thing that could mitigate climate change is stopping the burning of fossil fuels. Tell your friends and radio producers.

Red Dirt Poetry Festival See you in 2026 in Mparntwe/Alice Springs!

A good friend who runs the Red Dirt Poetry Festival has a fundraiser up to take a group of poets on tour across the Northern Territory. Apparently the CLP government doesn't want to invest in the arts and they need $14k to make it happen.

If you have a buck to spare, please help them out.

The ABC's own goal on Antoinette Lattouf should be a moment of reflection In a "state of panic" the ABC bowed to pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists and fired radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf to avoid complaints and attention. Ironically the broadcaster earned more scrutin...

MEAA members at the ABC have said staff and the public deserve a full independent inquiry into how, time and time again, there is inappropriate influence on our editorial content. @withmeaa.bsky.social