2015-12-06
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — I also rise to speak on the final report of the Standing Committee on the Environment and Planning on onshore unconventional gas in Victoria. It has been interesting to note the minority reports appended to the final report. They show that four coalition members want an extension of the current moratorium, two government members want a permanent ban on unconventional gas and one government member wants a three-year moratorium on unconventional gas with the removal of conventional gas from the ban.
I have to say that in this case I can only concur with those members of the committee who believe a permanent ban is the best way forward for Victoria in terms of not only providing certainty to the many stakeholders who presented to the committee but also protecting Victoria's environment, water supply, air, soil and public health as well. At this point, given what appears to be a split in the views of government members in relation to this matter, the government really needs to determine whether it wants to be pro-polluting industry or pro-community. That is the choice it has.
The reality is that we received hundreds of submissions from community members, all of them very heartfelt, describing the amount of angst that exists in regional Victoria in relation to unconventional gas activities. I thank those communities for their efforts and their constant advocacy around this issue. There have been, I guess, some extraordinary displays of opposition to unconventional gas activities in Victoria. At the current time I believe 69 communities across Victoria have declared themselves gas field free. That is an extraordinary number of people from 69 different townships in Victoria saying, 'Enough is enough. We don't want this industry here. This isn't for us. Our future is, in the main, either within tourism or in agriculture'.
I must say those Victorians in regional Victoria are immensely proud of their contribution to our economy. We heard from many farmers who have very grave concerns about the impact of unconventional gas exploration or extraction on their farmland and also the impact on their reputation as clean and green primary producers. There is a consistent message out there in Victoria that we have a wonderful reputation when it comes to our product and that that reputation would be very much compromised should we go down the road of unconventional gas activities.
It was disappointing to me that the committee could not resolve the main question around a permanent ban versus an extension of a moratorium. As I stated earlier, in my mind the only way to make sure that the views of the community are reflected and those environmental protections are in place is to have a permanent ban. It was also disappointing to me that we could not go to other states in Australia to have conversations directly with those communities about their experiences in relation to unconventional gas exploration activities. The best I could get was a viewing ofFrackman, which I have to say was compelling in the sense of the impact on the community of Chinchilla and the story of what happened there. It is a very sad tale indeed, and I would hate to see that tale repeated in Victoria.
I can only hope the Labor government makes the right decision, and that is a decision that is pro-community and pro the voices of all those people across Victoria who completely reject unconventional gas as a way forward in our state. This will be the real test for the government as to whether it really wants to see action on climate change because of the fugitive emissions involved with an unconventional gas activity, and it will be the test of whether it really does care about communities and about regional Victoria.