SYDNEY, Tuesday 12 May 2026 — Ahead of tonight’s Federal Budget, the following statement can be attributed to David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific:

“As the Albanese government hands down the budget, it has an obligation to both look after households today, and to set Australians up for a flourishing future.

“The government has an opportunity to give Aussies a fair shake of the sauce bottle by taxing gas corporations fairly, accelerating the clean, affordable renewable solutions we already have, backing its own nature law reforms with appropriate funding and by protecting our oceans, forests and climate from polluting gas projects.

“The massive swell for fairly taxing gas corporations shows the public mood has permanently shifted; most Australians rightly do not accept that gas corporations like Woodside and Santos should make obscene war profits, while everyday people face soaring bills, and natural wonders like Scott Reef are threatened by reckless gas drilling projects. 

“The global energy shock has exposed the dangers of our dependence on coal, oil and gas, and made clear that our future security and prosperity is in clean, affordable and homegrown wind and solar power.

“This must be a budget to benefit Australians, not gas corporations.”

Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s 2026 Federal Budget expectations can be found here.

–ENDS–

Notes:

Greenpeace has spokespeople available for interview before and after the budget announcement, including experts who can speak on Australia’s climate and emissions, the gas tax, Woodside’s Browse project, Labor’s new nature law, and our renewable future.

Media contact:

Kimberley Bernard on +61407 581 404 or kbenard@greenpeace.org

Federal Budget must give Aussies a ‘fair shake of the sauce bottle’: Greenpeace

PERTH, Tuesday 12 May 2026 — In response to Woodside’s Browse economic modelling released yesterday, the following comments can be attributed to WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Geoff Bice:

“Greenpeace has analysed Woodside’s report on the polluting Browse gas project against independent modelling of WA’s energy system and emissions, and found glaring holes in the case made for the project.

“Woodside has reached a new low by modelling WA’s emissions reduction and energy transition pathway based on wildly expensive and risky decarbonisation options simply to justify its reckless Browse development at Scott Reef, initially rejected by the WA Environmental Protection Authority on environmental grounds.

“The WA Government cannot allow climate policy to be directed by climate vandals like Woodside. The clearest way to get WA’s emissions down is by setting clear emission reduction targets, which Greenpeace continues to call for.”

Key points from Greenpeace’s analysis of Woodside’s modelling follow:

• Gas is the most expensive form of available electricity generation, according to the CSIRO; IEEFA also found that Browse gas would be about four times higher than the current average production cost of domestic gas in WA.
• Direct air capture (DAC): The model assumes WA will be able to capture 6.9Mt of CO₂/year by 2050. Worldwide, the current total volumes captured are 0.01 Mt CO₂/year. DAC is currently priced at a minimum of $USD-400/tonne with many estimates ranging higher. Even reduced to $200/tonne, the cost per year of the volumes modelled becomes a staggering $1.38 billion, or $34.5 billion by 2050.
• Carbon dumping, or carbon capture and storage (CCS): The model requires 40 times the amount of sequestration that occurred last year at WA’s only CCS operation on Barrow Island (32.4Mt compared to 1.3Mt). Barrow Island CCS has consistently failed to meet requirements and last year alone cost $344m (at 265 AU$/tCO₂). At those prices the Woodside modelling results in a cost per year by 2050 to be $8.6 billion.
• Woodside’s Pluto gas facility has been supplying less than 4% to the WA market, far short of the 15% required under the WA domestic gas reservation policy. 
• Woodside includes $1.6 billion payable via the Offshore Petroleum Levy. The Levy was implemented to offset offshore decommissioning costs to the taxpayer but is set to expire in 2030 — 3 years before the Browse field is proposed to come online.

-ENDS-

High res images and footage of Scott Reef can be found here

Media contacts:

Emma Sangalli on 0431 513 465 or emma.sangalli@greenpeace.org

Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org

‘A new low’: Greenpeace responds to Woodside’s flawed emissions reduction and renewables modelling

SYDNEY, 13 May 2026 — Greenpeace Australia Pacific has labelled last night’s Federal Budget as a monumental fumble on climate and nature, and one that fails to fund the urgently needed transition away from fossil fuels, while falling short on investments in environmental protection. 

Despite widespread calls for a 25% tax on gas exports, the Federal Government has instead given the fossil fuel industry a $19 billion free pass in annual subsidies and foregone gas tax revenue, while merely maintaining, rather than expanding, programs that are helping Australian households embrace renewable energy.

The government should be commended for significant and much-needed funding towards implementing the national nature law reforms–but overall investment in the environment falls chronically short of what is necessary to stop wildlife extinctions and protect critical ecosystems.

David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “In the midst of what is already a climate emergency, the global energy crisis sparked by the attack on Iran has starkly emphasised that reliance on fossil fuels puts people at risk.

“The public mood on taxing gas exports is clear. People wanted the government to get it done.

“Taxing gas exports is an effective policy to support essential services and drive the rapid transition to renewables, but the government has misread the mood and missed the moment to do what is needed.

“The government has shown admirable guts with reforms to improve young people having access to housing. It needs to show the same level of courage in standing up to fossil fuel interests and choosing affordable energy and a safe future for all of us.

“It is good to see the government backing in the new nature laws with funding to help them work–but there is still a chronic shortfall in the investment needed to protect nature.

“This budget should have been the moment for a decisive fiscal shift–putting the security of Australians and the flourishing of our natural environment ahead of the vested interests of gas corporations.

“There’s also a conspicuous lack of increased budget support for vital regional climate diplomacy—which is very clearly in the national interest, and another missed opportunity given Australia’s crucial role as chair of global climate negotiations this year.

“The primary duty of governments is to protect the well-being of citizens. The Albanese government needs to show Australians it is willing to put people before polluters, and step up measures to accelerate the transition to renewable energy while holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the damage they have caused.

-ENDS-

Media contact: Vai Shah on 0452 290 082 or vaidehi.shah@greenpeace.org

‘Missing the moment’: Budget 2026 misses the mark on climate and nature