The Australian Government has green-lit the 2025 Otway Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release, offering nearly 25,000 square kilometres of ocean for new fossil fuel exploration between Victoria and Tasmania. This decision directly threatens the globally significant habitat of endangered whales and undermines Australia’s climate commitments.
While we face a climate emergency, the Labor government continues to double down on fossil fuels. Since coming to power in 2022, they have approved over 32 new coal and gas projects. This includes the massive North West Shelf extension, which is projected to enable billions of tonnes of lifecycle emissions.
This acreage release is an early Christmas gift to the very corporations driving the climate crisis. While big gas companies get rich shipping our resources offshore for free, everyday Australians are left with skyrocketing energy bills.
We must stop the expansion of climate-wrecking gas and start making big polluters pay their fair share. Join us in calling on the government to:
- Withdraw the Otway Basin acreage immediately to protect Pygmy Blue and Southern Right Whales.
- Stop opening new gas projects that lock us into decades of pollution.
- Implement a Gas Export Tax to fund a fair and rapid transition to renewable energy.
HOW TO MAKE A SUBMISSION
Submissions on the nominated areas must be uploaded on the Department website by February 6th, 2026.
NEED HELP WRITING A SUBMISSION?
We encourage you to write your own message highlighting Labor’s betrayal of climate and nature commitments to serve their mates in the gas industry.
The strongest submissions clearly explain:
- The Problem: The unacceptable environmental risk of opening up critical marine habitats to oil and gas exploration.
- The Impact: How this directly harms endangered species like the Pygmy Blue and Southern Right Whales.
- The Solution/Ask: That the government must withdraw the Otway Basin acreage release and end new gas approvals.
If you need help writing a submission, you could choose to use this example as a starting point:
I am writing to register my opposition to the proposed gas exploration release in the Otway Basin.
The decision to open up 25,000 square km of our ocean for new fossil fuel activities is an environmental betrayal and feels like an early Christmas gift to the very fossil fuel corporations driving the climate crisis. At a time when we should be protecting our coastlines, the government is instead incentivising decades of pollution and habitat destruction. The acreage must be withdrawn immediately.
These areas are vital habitats for Endangered Pygmy Blue Whales and Southern Right Whales. Allowing harmful exploration activities like seismic blasting in their home is a choice to prioritise the profits of the gas industry over the survival of iconic species.
Approving new gas developments locks Australia into decades of more pollution, driving climate disasters that are already wrecking ecosystems – from the massive algal blooms off South Australia to the repeated bleaching of our coral reefs. We are ignoring the science to line the pockets of fossil fuel executives.
Australia doesn’t need new gas. While corporations get rich shipping resources offshore, Australians are left with skyrocketing bills. We must stop new gas projects and make big polluters pay their fair share of tax to fund a genuine renewable transition. What we need is a government with the courage to stand up to gas corporations and protect our marine life.
I demand that you withdraw this acreage for proposed gas exploration immediately and stop prioritising fossil fuel profits over our climate and our future.
ABOUT THE CONSULTATION
This consultation is an important opportunity for the community to have their voices heard before the government finalises the decision to offer petroleum exploration permits.
The five proposed acreage release areas in the Otway Basin are home to 42 threatened species and overlap with Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) for endangered Pygmy Blue Whales and Southern Right Whales. Exploration activities, especially destructive practices like seismic blasting, are known to disrupt whale communication, feeding, and migration in these critical habitats.
Your submission will help the Government identify potential impacts to cultural heritage, the environment, and other marine users.
ACT NOW: MAKE A SUBMISSION
Don't let the government hand over 25,000 square kilometres of critical whale habitat to the fossil fuel industry.