Mr Brown said that much of the existing and proposed Burrup development focussed upon the processing of natural gas into greenhouse-friendly fuels, such as LPG, LNG, Methanol and DME, for both domestic and international markets.
"Much of the proposed industry on the Burrup is about creating cleaner fuels, for the creation of a cleaner environment," he said.
"Western Australia has the opportunity to become a key player in the alternative energy field.
"The Burrup development will assist both WA and our trading partners to make the transition to cleaner fuels."
The Minister said the world's known gas reserves were increasing each year and that the vast majority of reserves were located in developing countries with less rigorous environmental assessment standards than WA.
"By developing these projects in WA, we are ensuring that they are subject to higher standards of environmental assessment and minimise their impact on the world environment," he said.
"However, if the development does not take place in WA, it is likely to take place overseas, where the same high standard of environmental protection cannot be assured.
"Blocking the use of the Burrup and promoting the Maitland Estate as an alternative site would significantly increase operating costs for industry, forcing them to look overseas for cheaper alternatives.
"This could well reduce the level of environmental scrutiny they would be subjected to and might, in turn, have the effect of increasing global greenhouse emissions."
Mr Brown said the proposed development on the Burrup was a good example of the Government's new model of sustainability, with an industry based upon the development of clean fuels, delivering enormous employment benefits to WA and so doing to best practice environmental assessment standards.
"Cancelling development on the Burrup will see approximately $6billion of investment and thousands of jobs shift off-shore, with a net negative world environmental impact," he said.
"In short, it would be a lose-lose scenario, where we lose jobs locally and the environment loses globally."
