Get the frack out of here

great australian bight

Equinor, a Norwegian company, have been given approval to begin drilling in the Great Australian Bight. Despite the protest from locals, environmental groups and countless Aussies across the country, the federal and South Australian governments have accepted the foreign company’s plans.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has provided the second approval required for Equinor to go ahead with the drilling. Wilderness Society South Australia director Peter Owen said, “We are gobsmacked that NOPSEMA could approve Equinor’s plan that experts have slammed.”

Mirning indigenous elder Bunna Lawrie, from the Nullarbor region, says he and his people have been carrying for the land, ocean and the whale nursery in the Bight for 120,000 years. He says “Equinor did not come to me and the elders, the traditional owners of that country … this is very disrespectful to us, none of these people came to talk to us about our country, and we are hurt by it. Because we love the whales, we love our country and we respect it.”

This will have devastating impacts on marine life and ecosystems. The machinery and sonar used by the oil company would interfere with the ability of marine mammals such as whales and dolphins to hunt and navigate, threatening their populations. The University of Sydney has also expressed concern that Equinor is “overconfident” about their ability to prevent a major oil spill and environmental catastrophe.

Is the government allowing a foreign company to exploit and endanger Australia? Should we be protecting our own people and wildlife over the profits of Norwegians?

7 comments

There should be NO drilling in any waters around the coast of Australia. These companies can't predict underwater movements such as Earthquakes or Landmass movement. They should go and drill in their own waters, end of story!

Trust our nefarious and inept LNP government to let this happen. They should all be shot for treason.

Yes Intellego they should be punished but I DON'T think they should be shot instead they should be jailed and lose all their so called entitlements and their jobs. They also should lose their assets and be made to live on the measily funds they pay all recipients of pensions. 

And to think the Australian Taxpayer pays NOPSEMA good money

Equinor is responsible for a fresh oil leaks and an explosion in the company's European operations and are being investigated by the Norwegian government for 64 separate safety incidents over the last three years including two oil spills

...surely that should be a warning signs NOPSEMA and the Australian government.

Equinor, previously the Norwegian state oil company Statoil, have been drilling and exploring for oil and gas in the hostile North Sea for decades so have as good a skills as anyone in the world to conduct exploration in the Great Australian Bight.

There are already many areas offshore where oil exploration has taken place - Bass Strait, Otway Basin, offshore Western Australia for the massive LNG reserves, offshore NT.

All the Australian coastline needs to be protected from oil spills but that doesn't mean the only answer is not to explore offshore, just that it must be done with the proper protections in place.  The governments have decided the protections proposed are proper and Equinor is one of the best to deliver.

Like any other resource, Australia needs oil and gas and current fields, notably Bass Strait, are depleting.  We cannot say no to this, nor say no to coal, and hopefully we won't continue to say no to nuclear.  Energy is a crucial element of Australia's economic future.  What is vital is that Australia doesn't give in to the economic demands of overseas companies to sanction development - such as not requiring the Queensland coal seam gas projects to set aside domestic gas reserve or requiring proper tax take from the developments.

We can so NO to this, No to coal and No to nuclear, we can mover towards renewable energy, hydrogen and electric cars, we need and want a clean energy future, it can be done if it wasn't for the greedy people who want to cash in from resources that they have already invested in. We have already destroyed too much on the earth it is now time to repair it and it can only be done if the destruction stops.

Is the government allowing a foreign company to exploit and endanger Australia? YES

Should we be protecting our own people and wildlife over the profits of Norwegians? YES

Just signed the petition initiated by Greenpeace to try to stop this going ahead. 
The money worshipping LNP coalition don't care a damn about environment. Even now with crippling drought, fires burning everywhere and pollution affecting people's health they have their heads in the sand and appear mute. Woeful governing!
I am against fracking both on land and offshore...there is too much risk of environmental destruction. 

 

The Norwegians have stopped them drilling in their own pristine waters so they just go and find another gullible country to destroy. We need to stop this and yes I have signed the petitions. This could potentially wreck all of the south and east coast of Australia if a disaster happens, it takes years for the marine life to recover, not too mention we are talking about an area that has whales migrating in it twice a year. 

The Norwegians have stopped them drilling in their own pristine waters so they just go and find another gullible country to destroy.

How come? The Norwegian Government has a 67 per cent majority stake in Equinor. Read it was founded as a limited company owned by the Government of Norway on 14 July 1972 by a unanimous act passed by the Norwegian parliament.

Equinor. An Australian view.

7 comments



To make a comment, please register or login

Preview your comment