Traditional Owners for the Beetaloo Basin area where Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor is visiting to inspect a gas site today say they strongly oppose fracking on their land and fear it will destroy a sacred site.
Mr Taylor is this morning visiting Empire Energy’s test drilling program at its Carpentaria-1 site, about 85km from Borrooloola, as part of the Morrison Government’s decision to waste taxpayer funds propping up the dirty and dying fracking industry.
The company currently has plans to frack the site during next year's dry season.
Peggy Mawson is a Traditional Owner for the area where Empire Energy has drilled and plans to frack.
She said, "We call that site where the company is drilling Paradise Pool or Karranjini. It is a mermaid dreaming.
"I got a shock when I drove past the site recently and saw all the trucks lined up carrying chemicals and drilling equipment waiting to destroy our country.
"I'm the Mihirringi for that dreaming, the boss lady for that site. Nobody from the government or the company came and asked me for permission to do the fracking there.
"We want the minister and the whole country to know that the Traditional Owners and the community here do not agree for fracking to go ahead in the McArthur Basin. We all share the water here and we are so worried about what will happen if fracking poisons our water and kills our dreaming."
Fellow Traditional Owner Robert O'Keefe said, “I’m a senior Traditional Owner for that area Paradise Pool.
“We told them that fracking mob when they came to the community that we don’t want fracking in that Balbarini area.
“It would destroy our land and water. There’s a lot of sacred sites in that area and a lot of dreaming story.
“They did a trick on us when they had a meeting, saying we signed for fracking when we just signed to say we were at the meeting not to agree to fracking.
“They don’t have permission from us.
“We want them to stop. It’s really important for us that they don’t go there.”