2021-10-21
The Northern Territory gas fields hold the equivalent of 70 years worth of Australia’s complete national emissions from all sectors.
Greens Senator Dorinda Cox says many traditional owners of the lands have raised serious concerns about the lack of consultation, information and respect through the process.
Rather than leaving those planet-heating methane emissions in the ground, the NT Labor government has approved opening them to fracking, turbo-charged by Federal Liberal and Labor voting together to hand $50m in taxpayer money to corporations aiming to profit from the destruction.
Quotes attributable to Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP:
“On the eve of the climate's 'last chance' global summit, Labor is opening up new gas fields and fracking the NT, lighting the fuse on a climate bomb.
"Gas is as dirty as coal and the Betaloo gas project will be worse for the climate than the Adani coal mine.
"Labor and the Liberals are using public money to make the climate crisis worse, funnelling $50m to corporations that include Liberal and Labor Party donors.
"After this announcement, it's clear the only way we'll get climate action is to kick the Liberals out and put Greens in balance of power where we'll push the next government to take the climate crisis seriously.”
Quotes from Greens Resources and Minerals Spokesperson Senator Dorinda Cox:
“My heart goes out to people of the Gudanji, Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Jingili, Mudburra and Alawa nations over this dreadful news, who are the only people out on country as the last line of defence to their land, skies and waters,” she said.
“Once again decisions are being made about our land that desecrate our cultural heritage, while simultaneously wrecking the climate for our kids, where mining interests take precedence over Traditional Owners’ right to their land.
“At the end of the day, a dirty deal stitched up by Labor and Liberals to create a $50m Beetaloo Basin slush fund to suit their political donors counts for everything and the First peoples’ whose lands will be fracked count for nothing to the big political parties.
“Australia’s carbon emissions could increase by as much as 23 per cent from this project, which is a slap in the face for all Australians fighting every day for the climate.
After the Juukan Gorge disaster in Western Australia you would have thought that the Liberal and Labor Governments across this country would learn to listen to Traditional Owners, but we see time and time again Labor side with their mates in Coalition.”