Fracking MOU stinks of frackmail fallout - goes against community and climate
The latest announcement of a MOU between the Federal Government and NT Chief Minister Gunner to promote fracking has been labelled poor politicking and out of touch with the reality of the Fracking Inquiry recommendations...
Members of the Protect Country Alliance are appalled at the NTG signing agreements to develop gas reserves at a time when the world is moving to remove carbon polluting fossil fuels in order to minimise the damage to our environment.
Graeme Sawyer from the Protect Country Alliance said:
“This fracking MOU is putting the cart before the horse, blindly pushing fracking before proper science or community engagement has been undertaken across the Northern Territory.
“The NT Fracking Inquiry recommended at least three years of water studies to understand the interconnection of groundwater and surface water.
“Many areas of the Northern Territory will need to be put off limits to fracking to protect water resources and community health.
“This week’s latest FOI revelations around the GST top up and fracking demonstrate that this MOU is cementing a deal done not on science, but on cheap politicking. The only question is whether the Gunner government is succumbing to pressure from Canberra or whether they really are prepared to sell out future generations of Territorians.
“Territorians are feeling betrayed and any semblance of credibility or trust that the Gunner Government had built with the community has dissipated.
“Some of the Northern Territory’s most precious tourism icons and waterways for fishing could be put at risk at the hands of Governments talking big and ignoring the risks.
“The Federal Government has not understood the Pepper Inquiry report and has no understanding of the concept of sustainability nor the wishes of Indigenous groups in the basin. There is no benefit to future generations of Territorians to take all that carbon and add it into the atmosphere.
“Opening up the Beetaloo Basin and beyond to fracking would be a disaster for the climate, locking the Northern Territory into unprecedented pollution levels at the very time when we need to do the opposite.
“Manufacturing in Australia will have a far brighter future, lower energy bills and more jobs created when they harness electrification through renewable energy and storage.
“Territorians would be better served by harnessing the future of Territorians to the next system of energy based on renewables which has the advantages of being cheaper and sustainable,” he said.