Northern Territory communities will suffer should the NT Government be allowed to get away with its attempts to fast track fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, according to Protect Country Alliance.
PCA spokesperson Graeme Sawyer said it was deeply disappointing the NT Parliament was rushing through bits and pieces of fracking regulation while continuing to ignore the overwhelming community opposition to fracking.
“This entire process has been rushed because the NT Government lacks the creative grey matter to come up with a solution to the Territory’s economic woes that doesn’t involve injecting poisonous fluids through groundwater,” he said.
“Lessons from Queensland show us that the economic benefits brought from the fracking industry are fleeting, employment is minimal and temporary compared to other, less destructive industries like tourism, which the NT would be better off focusing on.
“Communities between Tennant Creek and Katherine have been totally ignored while the government has fast tracked fracking.
“To be clear, there has been no meaningful engagement and consultation in the regional and remote towns and communities set to be impacted first hand. These communities and their businesses need to understand how the NT Government is going to protect them from the economic disaster fracking brought to towns like Miles in QLD.
“The government is clearly bending over backwards to help industry begin fracking by July this year. This is totally unacceptable given there still has been no public release of the draft codes of practice for fracking activities, and still no clarity on the government’s promise to make 49 per cent of the NT frack free.
“This is not good enough. We need action now from the government to protect Territory water, communities, tourism and cultural landscapes from invasive, industrial fracking of oil and gas.”