Post-truth Petrochemistry

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Natasha Fyles, continues to dig deeper in denial over Government plans for petrochemical industrial development on Darwin Harbour.

Following a strong public reaction against a 50-year industrial development plan for Middle Arm, Chief Minister Fyles roundly rejected the 'petrochemical' label.

When the Federal Government announced $1.5 billion of public funding for a  development project in the harbour’s Middle Arm, the Northern Territory’s Environment Centre highlighted the project's petrochemical components, and federal parliament discussed the probity of such a massive public subsidy for new fossil fuel development.

Middle Arm is already home to two large LNG production facilities, and a gas pipeline, making it a busy terminus for fossil fuels.

Rewriting history

In the wake of mounting disquiet over this ambitious but decidedly 20th century industrial development plan, the Chief Minister chose the 21st century tactic of post-truth denialism.

"This is not a petrochemical plant," Ms Fyles declared.

"I’ve met with the Environment Centre NT and they’ve made that claim and I have utterly refuted that claim."

"This is a sustainable future project that is based on renewable energy into the future."

"I challenge the Environment Centre to stop making mis-truths that are  based on nothing but rubbish and actually get on board be fully briefed  in the facts of this project and support it."

Certainly, the Middle Arm Development (MAD) Precinct project description does entertain renewables, and hydrogen fuel production. (Which could be powered by renewables. Or fossil fuels: note the significant gas infrastructure already in place on and around Middle Arm.)

But the Chief's claim that environmentalists were 'scare-mongering' was at odds with her own Department of Business, whose website reported petrochemicals as one of the project components.

Until it didn't.

Having been called to account for the discrepancies between her denial and her own government's websites, the websites were quickly edited, removing the offending term.

Written in ink

But while the Chief's staff could easily rewrite the story on government websites, their powers fall short for the rest of the web. Records and documents of other parties to the MAD Precinct plan still feature the 'petrochemical' label.

While also referencing renewables and hydrogen production, documents tendered to the NT's independent EPA in March 2022 clearly stated plans for petrochemical production.

The EPA's recommendation of Strategic Assessment for the development precinct reiterated the role of petrochemicals in the NT Government's plan.

and again, when setting Terms of Reference for the assessment

Similarly, the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission's latest progress report acknowledges the Fyles Labor Government's development of a Reference Group and Master Plan for development of petrochemical manufacturing on Middle Arm. These milestones also featured in May 2022 Budget papers.

and the website of the NT's investment commissioner not only references petrochemicals, but lists likely products

As the NT Chief Minister has discovered, the internet is written in ink.

Those government websites she could easily edit were all subject to auditable third-party archiving. Many other websites out of her control maintain evidence of her government's actions to pursue petrochemical production at Middle Arm.

But post-truth politics is not about facts or evidence. Having seized on the Trumpian tactic of loudly declaring that up is down, we might expect for the Chief's reality defying to only get louder as the project proceeds through strategic environmental assessment.