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Albanese Government, other states, urged to back QLD Government’s GAB carbon dumping ban

Lock the Gate Alliance welcomes the Queensland Government's announcement that it will permanently ban all carbon capture and storage projects for the state’s Great Artesian Basin, and urges the Albanese Government to abandon its support for the damaging technology.

The decision comes a week after the Queensland Environment Department rejected Glencore’s planned carbon capture and storage project, which would have injected 300,000 tonnes of waste CO2 from the Millmeran coal fired power station into the basin near Moonie.

Lock the Gate Alliance National Coordinator Ellen Roberts said, “The dumping of waste carbon in the Great Artesian Basin poses an unacceptable risk to the groundwater that tens of thousands of Queenslanders rely on.

“Without the basin, many inland Queensland towns, communities, and farmers would have no access to reliable water. The Great Artesian Basin deserves the highest levels of protection.

“Queensland covers 65% of the GAB, but Federal Labor’s Future Gas Strategy promotes carbon capture and storage across the entire Great Artesian Basin.

“The Albanese Government needs to scrap the dangerous Future Gas Strategy, and other states and territories that overlay the basin ought to follow QLD’s example.

“Lock the Gate is also calling on the Queensland Government to protect the Great Artesian Basin from further damage by coal and gas projects.”

Ms Roberts said carbon capture and storage was unproven at scale, and was used by the fossil fuel industry as a tactic to delay real emissions reduction. 

“For many years, the fossil fuel industry has been trying to make carbon capture and storage work at scale, but it has failed.

“Fossil fuel companies like Glencore prop up carbon capture and storage in order to delay real emissions reductions and real action on climate change.

“We’re heartened to hear the Queensland section of the Great Artesian Basin will not be sacrificed just so fossil fuel companies can continue to pollute.”

ENDS

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