Broome Ratepayers Slugged as Woodside Shareholders Pocket Millions
Tuesday 23 April 2013
Greens WA Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC is outraged at the latest turn of events in the James Price Point saga.
“The Broome Shire President today revealed the “considerable” losses suffered by the Shire in its work associated with the abandoned Browse LNG plant at James Price Point (JPP),” Mr Chapple said.
“There is no way this can just be dismissed as part of the normal running of a local government authority – Broome Shire has never had to handle anything on this scale, and was even at the point of hiring extra staff.
“The Premier, through his Department of State Development, has apparently rebuffed efforts by the Shire to recoup any of its losses.
“I am simply appalled that the proponent, Woodside, has delivered an even greater slap-in-the-face to their long-suffering Broome hosts. This very day, Woodside has announced a half-billion dollar handout to its shareholders, from spare cash the Chairman claims is sloshing around in the corporate coffers, as a result of its withdrawal from JPP.
“This so-called ‘Special Dividend’ contrasts starkly with the ‘Not so Special’ increase in rates the Broome people can probably expect later this year.
“I don’t know exactly how much Broome is out-of-pocket, but I’m sure it’s a very long way short of half a billion – what a scandal!,” concluded Mr Chapple.