2019-02-20
The Minister for Mining and Resources Matt Canavan has been exposed for lying about any oil from the Great Australian Bight staying in Australia.
“While Matt Canavan has told the public Equinor would keep oil in Australia, the company has denied it. Equinor’s polite rebuke of the Minister’s comments on ABC this morning expose the flimsy spin from the Morrison Government,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“While the Norwegian oil giant lobbies for approval to drill in the Great Australian Bight, it is clear that South Australians are set to gain very little if the project were to go ahead. The workforce will be imported, the oil exported and the profits sent overseas. Meanwhile, South Australia’s tourism and fishing industries are all put at risk.
“This project is about profit for a Norwegian oil giant, pure and simple. Equinor’s own oil spill modelling shows our state’s economy would take an $86 billion hit. It would decimate our thriving tourism and fisheries industries.
“At a time when we know we must transition away from fossil fuels to arrest climate change, the costs of opening up a new oilfield to the planet are too great. Foreign profits cannot be put before people and the environment.
“The Greens will continue fighting this project, and pursuing World Heritage protection for the Bight. We back our tens of thousands of jobs in tourism and fisheries, and our beautiful Kangaroo Island over big oil any day.”