Anti-fracking sentiment is strong in the red centre, with a doorknock survey revealing the vast majority of randomly selected residents oppose both the unconventional gas mining technique and taxpayer grants for petroleum companies.
The survey (results available here) of 500 Alice Springs residents showed:
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79.4 per cent of respondents do not support the fracking industry in the NT, while only five per cent supported it and the rest were unsure or ambivalent.
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80.2 per cent of respondents do not support taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas industry in the NT. Only seven per cent supported such subsidies, while the rest were unsure or ambivalent.
The results of the survey were presented to Federal Labor MP for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour, who said on Facebook they “showed an overwhelming dislike of fracking” and that she would present the dataset to her colleagues.
The survey was conducted by volunteers from the Arid Lands Environment Centre across nine different suburbs in Alice Springs.
The results come after the NT Fyles Government passed a Bill that will fast track fracking by allowing petroleum companies to sell gas under an appraisal licence despite opposition from Traditional Owners and environmentalists.
Arid Lands Environment Centre spokesperson Hannah Ekin said, “We’re confident that these results demonstrate that the vast majority of Alice residents are opposed to fracking.
“Here in arid Central Australia we understand how precious water is and what a massive risk fracking poses to it.
“We already live in a place of climate extremes and so many people we spoke to couldn’t believe that our government wants to go ahead with climate wrecking fracking given how vulnerable we are to the impacts of global warming here.
“We thank Marion Scrymgour for meeting with us and taking the views of Alice residents seriously.
“We’re calling on Marion and her colleagues in the Federal Government to rule out any approval of fracking in the Territory and to put a stop to public funds being handed out to gas corporations.”
ENDS