Tamboran are on site and set to begin drilling in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. With a mega-fracker rig that can frack 4km wide wells, Tamboran are set to start the largest ever fracking project in the NT. 

Snap Protest:
Where: Outside Peter Khalil MP office, Sydney Road, Coburg.
When 12 noon, Friday 6 September 2024

This event is part of visiting other Government MPs on Friday:

10.00 am – Tim Watts – 455 Melbourne Rd, Newport
11.00 am – Bill Shorten – Suite 1A, 12 Hall Street Moonee Ponds
12.00 noon – Peter Khalil – 466-468 Sydney Rd, Coburg
1.30 pm – Ged Kearney – 159 High Street Preston
2.30 pm – Michelle Ananda-Rajah – Suite 1.03, 261-271 Wattletree Road, Malvern
3.30 pm – Carina Garland – 257 Blackburn Rd, Mount Waverley
4.30 pm – Clare O’Neil – 17-19 Atherton Road, Oakleigh
Also at 4.30 pm Daniel Mulino Shop 1 25/27 Clarke St, Sunshine.

It’s now or never for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to pull the water trigger and see that Tamboran’s fracking project is thoroughly assessed before fracking starts.  We have also called on our Labor MP Peter Khalil to use his influence with the Environment Minister.

There has been no Federal environment assessment done, or approval given, for Fracking in the Beetaloo basin. The Government passed the Water Trigger amendment in late 2023. Now is the time to use this.

The Wills Climate and Environment Advisory Group met with Peter Khalil in March. and asked regarding the water trigger and whether Tanya Plibersek will be using it to prevent highly detrimental projects like the Beetaloo Basin. Peter said that he is waiting to hear back on his request for a meeting. (See report)

Climate Action Merribek wrote to Peter Khalil as a metter of urgancy in a formal letter by email on 20th August. We have received no reply or response, even an acknowledgement, to our letter. An excerpt of our request is below:

Tamboran has announced that it will start drilling 15 wells in Shenandoah South in the Beetaloo Basin “in a matter of weeks”, preparatory to fracking. We understand that Tanya Plibersek has written to them to ask them to self-refer under the new water trigger legislation in the EPBC Act, but they have failed to respond. If drilling and production start, it will be much harder to stop them, and irretrievable damage to water aquifers and the environment more generally could occur at any point.
We ask that you contact Minister Plibersek as a matter of urgency, asking her to write to Tamboran formally under the Act – they would then have 15 days to respond, and in default they would not be permitted to proceed. (The same goes for Empire, which will also have 10 wells ready to go soon. ) We hope you can also approach your colleagues Josh Burns, Marion Scrymgour and Malarndirri McCarthy about this to present the case to Tanya that she needs to call in this projects to assess water use and water hydrology and ecosystem impacts.
This is a chance for the government to get credit for using the water trigger powers to bring the rigour and scrutiny that the NT Government lacks. If the Minister does nothing and there is environment damage (as seems inevitable), this will blow back badly on the government, in Labor/Greens marginal seats like Wills especially.

A copy of the above letter from Climate Action Merribek was presented to Peter Khalil’s office noting there had been no response or acknowledgement. A letter from the Beyond Gas Network was also presented. Later that afternoon, a number of people received template emails acknowledging ‘environmental concerns’, but failing to address particular concerns raised.

You can read the form letter sent to Convenor John Englart. In the letter it mentions the water trigger once: “We’ve already legislated the first tranche of environment laws, with a stronger ‘water trigger’ to make sure the impacts of coal and gas projects on water are considered – helping to better protect our water for drinking and farming.”. Yet he fails to respond in why Tanya Plibersek has not called in the projects under the Water Trigger. 

We note that according to Lock the Gate, Territory community groups say Federal Labor politicians in the NT have broken their promise to apply the expanded water trigger to dangerous fracking projects, after Tamboran announced it had begun work at its Shenandoah South shale gas fracking pilot in the Beetaloo Basin.

Note that Territory Labor MPs expected the Water Trigger to be applied by the Environment Minister:

Even the chihuahuas are protesting for Tanya to put a ‘paws’ on fracking…

Maybe Tanya Plibersek needs to watch the recent Four Corners on the Northern Territory Water Grab. The Fracking companies too are grabbing water resources and will pollute underground aquifers with toxic fracking chemicals.

References:

Listcorp, Tamboran Resources media release, 30 August 2024, Commencement of Shenandoah South Pilot Project drilling https://www.listcorp.com/asx/tbn/tamboran-resources-limited/news/commencement-of-shenandoah-south-pilot-project-drilling-3077506.html

Lock the Gate, 30 August 2024, Territory Labor MPs accused of breaking promises as Tamboran starts work on new fracking project https://www.lockthegate.org.au/territory_labor_mps_accused_of_breaking_promises_as_tamboran_starts_work_on_new_fracking_project

Climate Action Merribek, 13 June 2024, Time for Tanya Plibersek to use the Water Trigger to assess Beetaloo gas fracking environmental impacts https://climateactionmerribek.org/2024/06/13/time-for-tanya-plibersek-to-use-the-water-trigger-to-assess-beetaloo-gas-fracking-emvironmental-impacts/