Browsing Tag
environmental politics
10 posts
Water trigger laws used in court bid to block fracking
In a landmark case activists are taking a US-based gas company to the Federal Court under Labor's water trigger laws. Lock the Gate Alliance has filed a legal challenge against Tamboran B2 Pty Ltd over its plans to frack 15 gas wells in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin, near the town of Daly Waters. It will be the first legal challenge under the water trigger legislation passed by federal parliament in 2023. An amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Act requires Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to consider the impact of large coal mining and coal seam gas…
‘Armageddon’: the cultural cost of disturbing Gunlom
It is said Bula sleeps at Gunlom Falls, at the base of sickness country; a spirit so powerful the Jawoyn people liken it to Armageddon. Until 2019, thousands of tourists traipsed through the culturally significant site in Kakadu National Park known as Gunlom Falls, many trying to get Instagram selfies at the famous waterfalls featured in the 1986 cult-classic Crocodile Dundee. But the significance of this place predates the film. It is a gathering place, a ceremony place, and "a special place", according to Bolmo traditional owner Rachael Willika. For years, traditional owners and Parks Australia have been locked in…
Scientists despair as farmers clear nature hot spot
A globally significant savanna that supports an array of threatened species is being cleared for agriculture without any scrutiny under environmental laws, scientists say. There's rising alarm about the extent of unchecked land clearing in the Northern Territory's tropical savannas, south of Darwin. Conservationists used a webinar attended by federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Wednesday to implore her to stop "rampant clearing" that's putting an untold number of species at risk. That includes in the territory's savannas - one of the world's last extensive, largely intact natural landscapes that support an extraordinary mix of plant and animal species found…
Water projects in the pipeline for remote communities
A handful of remote communities in the Northern Territory will be able to upgrade their water storage and infrastructure after the federal government announced $53.1 million for water security projects. Maningrida will build a new tank and upgrade infrastructure, the pipeline in Yirrkala will be upgraded and Gunyangara will be assessed on the Gove peninsula, and new water sources will be investigated in Numbulwar. Federal environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek and NT Water Minister Kate Worden also announced an $18.2 million investment in the Yulara water supply project, coupled with $5 milliion from Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, which owns…
Farmers urge Labor leaders to fight carbon capture plan
Labor leaders should be pressuring Queensland to reject the storage of power station emissions in the Great Artesian Basin, farmers say. Farming lobby group AgForce has ramped up its campaign against a carbon capture and storage trial proposed by a subsidiary of coal producer Glencore. CTSCo plans to capture carbon dioxide from the coal-fired Millmerran power station in southern Queensland, liquefy it and store it 2.3km underground, in the Precipice Sandstone aquifer. It says no damage will come from its test injection of 330,000 tonnes into an aquifer that lies between two impermeable rock layers, meaning it's isolated from other…
Federal probe into disputed $1.5b processing hub
Environmental and economic implications of the Northern Territory's controversial Middle Arm processing facility will go under the microscope at a federal inquiry. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young put the motion for the inquiry to the Senate on Tuesday, arguing the project requires greater scrutiny. The $1.5 billion Darwin Harbour facility will be a manufacturing hub for gas, petrochemicals, hydrogen, and minerals and has been described as a "key enabler" for Beetaloo Basin gas exports. The NT government approved the exploration of the Beetaloo basin in May after a five-year moratorium on natural gas projects, saying submitted plans had met the requirements…
Beetaloo companies urged to consider ‘human element’
Australia's most powerful onshore drilling rig has arrived in Darwin, as a federal inquiry recommended tighter carbon offset regulations and more consultation with local communities before fracking goes ahead in the Beetaloo Basin. Scientists and environmental activists were at Darwin's port on Wednesday to protest the rig's arrival. They joined Larrakia traditional owner Eric Fejo, who waved the Larrakia flag and called on companies to "stop ripping the veins out of my mother's country" while trucks carrying drilling pipes drove past behind him. The owner of the drilling rig, Tamboran Resources, said its size would allow for more efficient operations,…
Contentious Beetaloo Fracking Report Released
Fracking in the NT may be one step closer after the territory government released a milestone report into the Beetaloo Basin. The new report was commissioned in response to recommendations from the Pepper inquiry into the gas fracking industry, which said more data was needed before decisions could be made on natural gas extraction in the area. Research for the Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA) was conducted over three years at a cost of $15 million. "The hydraulic fracturing inquiry laid out a recipe of all the information gaps that needed to be filled before decisions could be…
Eco groups cold on carbon capture for Beetaloo fracking
Environment groups have criticised a new CSIRO report looking at offsetting emissions from proposed gas extraction in the Northern Territory. The report explores options for offsetting greenhouse emissions produced by extracting gas from the Beetaloo Basin, should the NT government approve it. The groups have criticised the inclusion of carbon capture and storage among the measures. "This technology has never worked at scale, has a track record of failure, and is being used by the gas industry to justify opening up new gas fields like the Beetaloo," said NT Environment Centre executive director Kirsty Howey. CSIRO researchers spent two years…
Activists launch legal challenge to Beetaloo fracking
A grassroots group in Central Australia is challenging the NT government's decision to approve fracking in the Beetaloo Basin. The Central Australian Frack Free Alliance will ask the NT Supreme Court to review the environment minister's decision to approve the proposed plan for extracting gas from the area, submitted by resources company Tamboran. The approval allows Tamboran to drill 12 gas wells about 600km south of Darwin. "By approving this exploration application, the minister is laying the grounds for potentially thousands of fracking wells to be drilled in the NT," said the alliance's Hannah Ekin. According to the group, which…