Ban gives certainty
“A wonderful day” and “we won” was the reaction last week of opponents to onshore gas mining in Victoria when the State Government announced it would legislate a permanent ban.
Lock the Gate Gippsland and Victorian coordinator Ursula Alquier of Poowong said it was good news especially for farming communities that had been fighting to stop the industry for the past five years.
They now have certainty to move forward, she said.
Many Gippsland towns and rural districts signed up to the Lock the Gate campaign.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Resources Wade Noonan announced last week there would be a permanent ban of the exploration and development of all onshore unconventional gas in Victoria including hydraulic fracturing - “fracking” - and coal seam gas.
Legislation will be introduced into Parliament later this year.
It will also include an extension of the current moratorium on conventional onshore gas exploration and development until June 2020.
Mr Noonan said there had been a great deal of community concern about onshore unconventional gas.
“The decision gets the balance right”.
We have carefully considered key findings and recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry, consulted widely and took account of the best available evidence, he said.
The Nationals leader Peter Walsh backed the decision and Victoria Shooters and Fishers Party Member for Northern Victoria Daniel Young gave conditional support.
Mr Young, a member of the Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into onshore unconventional gas, said he heard “loud and clear” the grave concerns of farmers and communities.
However, he said he would not be opposed to readdressing the issue if the gas exploration and extraction industry can provide definitive solutions to the concerns raised.
Concerns expressed about personal health and degradation of properties could not be ignored or disproved, Mr Young said.
Mr Walsh said The Nationals had always stood side by side with farmers on the issue. He pointed to the previous Coalition government’s introduction of the moratorium on fracking and claimed the government’s action was following the lead of his party.
However, not everybody is happy with the decision.
The Business Council of Australia and the Australian Industry Group said it was a blow to local (Victorian) manufacturing industries while Shell Australia warned households and industry would eventually pay higher energy prices.