Lock the Gate

Where would you rather see our taxpayer money invested?

The Government wants to frack, but what does Australia want?

We’ve put together a letter you can sign below and add your ideas for the Federal Government on what they could do with our hard-earned tax dollars.

Please add your name and give us your ideas for where you’d rather see your tax dollars spent.

Petition text:

To Federal Parliamentarians, Ministers, Departments,

We are alarmed and disappointed to see the Federal Government now rolling out a suite of actions to prop up expensive and dangerous gas fracking across Australia without any proper public accountability.

As voters and concerned Australians, we ask that you hear our message - do not spend our money on gas fracking projects and big new gas pipelines.

Farmlands, water resources and the climate can’t afford to keep propping up polluting gas.

It’s time for Australia to grow stronger and tool up to embrace cleaner energy and storage.

There are a multitude of ways the Government could take a smarter approach to the Covid recovery. The Australian community has many ideas on how we can boost agriculture, tourism, First Nations opportunities, community health and disaster relief.

We know we can create jobs by genuinely supporting diverse Australian businesses, not throwing our money at the gas fracking industry.

We see huge opportunities to help Australia to get off polluting and expensive gas into the future, to modernise our power and heating and to save on gas and energy bills.

I ask that you oppose the measures being rolled out to fast-track gas fracking, including the ill-considered and secretive National Gas Infrastructure Plan, and take on board our ideas for how the money could be better spent.

Yours sincerely,

Please add some comments.

What would you rather see money spent on?

Here are some ideas:

Helping Australian businesses get off gas
Funding community projects in your neighbourhood
Land stewardship programs
Supporting First Nations organisations and businesses working on country
Renewable energy projects and battery storage
Disaster relief

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Showing 30 reactions

John Russell commented 2021-03-23 16:17:44 +1100
Meg Marshall commented 2021-03-23 16:17:41 +1100

Oz needs to invest in the technologies and infrastructure needed for surviving in the future, not propping up the fossil fuel industries of the past, whose activities have killed and continue to kill so many people. ScoMo may well be up on a Crimes against Humanity if he persists in his blinkered approach. Or is he just bent?
Deb Campbell commented 2021-03-23 16:17:09 +1100
Rob Simons commented 2021-03-23 16:17:09 +1100
Christine Wheeler commented 2021-03-23 16:16:51 +1100

Support Australian households and businesses to extract themselves from remaining dependency on coal or gas, by developing and implementing a pro-renewables policy.

Develop pathways for the reemployment of all workers currently in the coal or gas industries, as we all know they won’t have jobs in a few more years.

Spend big money and create employment to provide more social housing.

Take a leaf out of the NZ playbook and adopt a suite of measures aimed at gradually taking the pressure out of the dangerous and unfair Australian housing price bubble.

Acknowledge and adopt the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Do the work to mount a referendum towards recognition of indigenous Australians in our Constitution.

Get serious about Closing the Gap. Listen to solutions put forward by First Nations leaders; provide support for First Nations organisations and businesses.

Support farmers to look after their land by a) removing the threat of fracking, and b) providing pathways towards environmentally sustainable practices that remain economic.

Sort out the Murray Darling Basin mess. Stop the water theft by agribusiness. Ensure environmental flows are sufficient to prevent the entire river system dying.
Greg Spencer commented 2021-03-23 16:16:43 +1100
Rod Callaghan commented 2021-03-23 16:16:36 +1100
Lynne Griffiths commented 2021-03-23 16:16:13 +1100

I would rather see money spent on renewable energy projects and battery storage than on sourcing gas. Fracking is too damaging to the environment and impacts on farmers’ livelihoods. There is a better alternative.
Jens Svensson commented 2021-03-23 16:16:11 +1100

Change the Government car fleet to EV’s and save money.

Shane Rattenbury MLA

March 19 at 9:31 AM ·

It’s official. The data is in, and Electric Vehicles have the numbers.

The ACT Government has just done a running cost comparison between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and EV vehicles in its fleet, and the difference is pretty convincing.

The sampled fleet ICE vehicles cost an average of $14.33 per hundred kilometres to run, including both fuel and maintenance, while their comparable EVs cost… drum roll… just $3.65.

With incentives in place to make buying an EV cheaper, and with second-hand EVs regularly leaving the government fleet and coming onto the market, the decision to switch to an EV or PHEV for your next car is only going to get easier.

Feedback from government fleet users has been overwhelmingly positive, too. The smooth, quiet ride of an EV just makes driving better. And with EV numbers on the road across the Territory set to climb, Canberra’s air will become cleaner for all of us.
Kent Robinson commented 2021-03-23 16:16:08 +1100

If poisons from fracking damage the aquifer and compromise underground stores of water, Australia is in serious trouble.

I believe tax payer’s money would be more wisely spent developing industry, creating jobs and pushing forward to build a clean society that runs on renewable energy.

Australia has the potential with wind, sunshine and water to lead the world in such a venture.

At the same time lifting our county’s economy immensely.
Allan Evans commented 2021-03-23 16:15:50 +1100

The fossil fuel energy industry is going into natural decline exposing large portions of the Hunter Community to an uncertain future. Public monies should be spent on developing replacement clean energy industries and supporting the community through the inevitable transition.
Raz Sieira commented 2021-03-23 16:15:49 +1100

Stop destroying our country & selling it off
Michael Collins commented 2021-03-23 16:15:32 +1100

It is clear that fossil fuels will not save or serve the future. Act with reverence toward the Earth.
John Edwards commented 2021-03-23 16:15:31 +1100

The money would be better spent on developing renewable energy projects and retraining people to work on them.
Patricia McAuliffe commented 2021-03-23 16:15:25 +1100

Gas is a large contributor to climate change, current flooding on eastern seaboard are evidence of this. We need urgent conversion to non-fossil fuel energy to sustainable systems. Gas is a very poor transition option.
Elizabeth Churchill commented 2021-03-23 16:15:19 +1100

The question is who are “our” Government representing, Fracking has proven to be a disaster in the USA,but here we are following along as usual.

Australia has limited freshwater as it is, we have a magnificent resource in the great artesian basin but government seems intent on letting multinational conglomerates (Adani) destroy it and all the communities that rely on it.

Come on Australia stop looking for a quick dollar and think about the future of our kids.

Try funding education,apprenticeships,and smarter use of our resources,Value adding That is what we used to do, not just selling raw materials.
Lynda Tredwell commented 2021-03-23 16:15:16 +1100

Land Stewardship Programs would be good for our tax payer dollars to be spent on. If Farmers and First Nations people don’t want fracking – that’s a good enough reason for me to reject the idea too.
Geoffrey Bricknell commented 2021-03-23 16:14:52 +1100

Royal Commission into the corrupted political donation system in Australia NOW.

Gas Industry donates to the ‘snout in trough’ politicians and… massive public funds go to the Gas Industry. Well that’s a real surprise.
David McEwen commented 2021-03-23 16:14:50 +1100

Accelerating green hydrogen for process heating and hard to abate industries such as steel or cement.

Resurrecting the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Forum and funding it properly.
Charlie Cochrane commented 2021-03-23 16:14:49 +1100
Patricia Saunders commented 2021-03-23 16:14:49 +1100

Australia could become a renewable energy superpower, but the present government seems bent on throwing that once in a lifetime opportunity away and squandering our money on dangerous, polluting gas projects which damage the environment, ignore and disrespect the wishes and right of Traditional Owners and provide relatively few jobs (health and education provide far more).
John Zoranich commented 2021-03-23 16:14:40 +1100

Money should be invested in renewable Energy
Gabi Smalley commented 2021-03-23 16:14:14 +1100

I would rather see money spent on getting out of the gas business and investing in renewable projects and battery storage. Seen the documentary “Gas Lands” made in the U.S.? That will tell you everything about why not to frack.
Fiona Spinks commented 2021-03-23 16:14:04 +1100

Renewable energy and education is where more funding should go.
Steve Taylor commented 2021-03-23 16:14:03 +1100

I would go further to say that it would be a gross abuse of office to fund the ecocide that is fracking from the public purse and those that choose to do so will be held personal responsible for life for the environmental damage caused and dangerous gasses emissions which are far in excess of what is claimed. The truth of the mater is if a vote was held across Australia the result would be an overwhelming NO to fracking. But the criminals masquerading as lawful government are not going to do that are they because then they would be able to steal the money from the Australian public and give it to there mates. Harsh no just look who is a part of this so called gas lead recovery absolutely criminal.

The funding would be far wiser spent on storing the abundance of roof top solar already produced. This would also assist in quelling the nightmare that has been created by the inrush of the energy produced into the grid.
Nicholas Scott-Mills commented 2021-03-23 16:13:51 +1100

Also; another barrel pumped out of the ground won’t be available to future generations; solely basing the assessment on GDP skews the analysis.
Gail Wyatt commented 2021-03-23 16:13:51 +1100

It’s not too early to get out of gas. This is a more financially sound approach than destroying the environment with fracking and its effects
Melissa Pinner commented 2021-03-23 16:13:48 +1100
John Dyer commented 2021-03-23 16:13:38 +1100
Elizabeth Cuthbertson commented 2021-03-23 16:13:34 +1100