Since the federal government committed $1.5 billion to the Middle Arm Industrial Hub it's been hailed as "the answer to some of the country's biggest questions" and slammed as a "climate policy gamble".
Political critics have been called "trolls" and "knockers and blockers" by the NT government for standing in the way of the proposed development.
While environment groups say the industrial precinct would directly prop up the NT's budding gas industry.
From today, Middle Arm will face two days of scrutiny and interrogation in public hearings as part of a Senate inquiry sitting in Darwin, after the process was blocked twice by the federal government.
The inquiry will hear from experts and the public; examine the public money being spent on the project; probe what the hub will be used for and scrutinise claims it will be a climate catastrophe.
Here's what to expect.
The NT government has promoted Middle Arm as a "renewables energy hub" that will help decarbonise the economy and "create the jobs of the future" — as many as 20,000 of them.
It's been touted as a way to build a circular economy and will focus on developing carbon capture technology, green hydrogen and critical minerals.
However, the ABC revealed in 2022 that the original business case for the project described it as a "new gas demand centre".
That same year, the NT government was accused of "greenwashing" after it deleted references to "petrochemicals" from its website and official documents.
Then last year Tamboran Resources — which has the biggest stake in the Beetaloo Basin — announced its plans to build a gas exporting plant at Middle Arm, almost as big as Inpex's Ichthys&nbs...
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