The federal government and states with gas shortages will have to work with the Northern Territory on offsetting emissions if new supplies from the Beetaloo Basin are to be unlocked, Territory Labor says.
The comments from Chief Minister Natasha Fyles come as eastern states brace for more gas price hikes and the federal government finalises plans for an emergency price cap.
The NT does not face the same price pressures but is racing against the clock to finish an overhaul of environmental laws and policies it has said must be complete before production can begin in the gas-rich Beetaloo Basin.
But a report released this week shows the status of the key climate safeguard promised by Labor is still unresolved.
The measure — known as recommendation 9.8 of the NT's 2017 fracking inquiry — requires the NT to get the federal government's commitment and support to ensure there is no net increase to Australia's emissions as a result of onshore gas development.
The report comes from the bureaucrat tasked with monitoring the government's implementation of the inquiry's recommendations.
In his latest assessment, David Ritchie, who was also on the inquiry panel, says while the federal government has agreed to work with the NT to help it implement 9.8 "using available technology and policies", "the details of how this will be done are still being worked out".
Asked if she was frustrated that was still the case after years of negotiations, Ms Fyles said it was in the national interest for an agreement to be finalised.
"I think this is the interesting point — look at the east coast and the energy crisis that they are facing," she told ABC Alice Springs.
"We have to transition — gas is a transition fuel — we absolutely need to step away from coal and fossil fuels to renewables and sustainability.
"But if they want our gas, then they have to work with us around those emissions."
The volume of emissions that would come from fracking the Beetaloo is still unclear but is expected to be massive, with doubts raised within government about whether there are enough available carbon offsets in Australia.
Federal climate minister Chris Bowen has been unavailable for an interview on the subject despite requests from ABC Darwin over several months.
Labor has previously said it wanted all reforms finalised by the end of this month so production licence applications can be considered next year.
The NT government sees development of the basin as central to its aspirations to grow the small jurisdiction's $26 billion economy to $40 billion by 2030.
It has previously refused to say if production fracking would be allowed to go ahead without the Commonwealth's full commitment to 9.8.
"I'm just saying that if people want the NT's gas, we've got our own goals around net zero emissions," Ms Fyles said.
"If, for some states that don't have the gas and they need the gas, they have to understand how we can work together, so we can all have that sustainability into the future."
Labor claims credit for broader fracking reforms
In the year's final sittings of parliament last week, a raft of other reforms was passed that Labor said fulfilled fracking inquiry recommendations.
Full implementation of all 135 recommendations was the promise on which Labor controversially lifted its fracking moratorium in 2018.
"We have changed the face of environment regulations and laws in the Northern Territory," Ms Fyles said on ABC Alice Springs this week.
Last week's reforms include new chain-of-responsibility laws and a cost-recovery framework to help fund government oversight of the industry.
They also allow gas companies to sell exploration and appraisal of gas without having a production licence, a move which was not recommended by the inquiry and sparked heavy criticism from green groups.
Aboriginal land councils were also blindsided by the proposal. Labor said a last-minute amendment would require companies to have traditional owner "consent" before any sale.
"It is not often that the [Country Liberal Party] can come into this place and congratulate the Labor government for getting something done, but this is one of those times," opposition member Steve Edginton said in parliament.
On the ground in the Beetaloo, the first companies hoping to win approval to start production fracking are continuing exploratory drilling this month.
After announcing it was backing out of its investments in the basin in September, Origin Energy has finished the cheap sale of its exploration licences to junior miner Tamboran Resources.
Empire Energy, one of the companies to receive tens of millions in drilling subsidies under the former Coalition government, last week told investors it had locked in a new finance arrangement with Macquarie Bank.
Government blocking access to 'independent' monitor
In his oversight letter, Dr Ritchie notes that other parts of the laws passed last week "substantially reduce" the recommended scope for legal challenges to fracking approvals.
He makes no further comment about the laws' inconsistency with the inquiry's recommendations and goes on to say he believes implementation is continuing properly.
Multiple requests by the ABC for an interview with Dr Ritchie — whose position is described by the government as independent — have been rejected by the chief minister's department.
A department spokesperson said the media could not put written questions to Mr Ritchie either.
Ms Fyles told ABC Alice Springs she would "seek advice" on whether the media should have access to the independent monitor of the government's progress.
Her office is yet to provide more information.
The suggestion that gas from the Beetaloo Basin would help solve the energy situation on the east coast was dismissed by NT Environment Centre chief Kirsty Howey, who said it would more likely be exported from Darwin or used at the proposed Middle Arm industrial precinct.
She said it was unacceptable for the "fundamental question" of offsets to be unresolved at this point.
"We've heard a version of this — that the Commonwealth is working with the Northern Territory government to resolve the issue — for four and a half years," she said.
"We've had absolutely no disclosure of what the mechanism will be to achieve this outcome.
She believed that was because it would be "all but impossible" for the country to both develop the Beetaloo Basin and reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.
She also called on Territory Labor to detail the process by which it would be determined whether the fracking inquiry recommendations were properly implemented.
A government website says the government will "carefully consider" the actions it has taken early in the new year.
