Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Oil and gas exploration

Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (09:55): Last night we got some good news when it comes to climate change: the New South Wales government has announced that they will ban any new oil and gas drilling in New South Wales waters off their coast. It is a fantastic announcement, and we in the Greens applaud the New South Wales government for making that bold decision. It follows overwhelming community opposition and scientific evidence that earth simply cannot afford any new fossil fuel projects. Yet here Labor in Victoria is still supporting new gas drilling.

Others have noted that today marks 15 years since the horrific Black Saturday fires which killed 173 Victorians, one of the worst climate disasters our country has ever seen, and yet Labor here in Victoria continues to fan the flames of climate change, which causes these types of disasters, by supporting new gas drilling. In fact in Victoria we have over a dozen new drilling projects in the pipeline, including new gas drilling right next to the marine national park of the Twelve Apostles, one of the most iconic sites along our coastline, and another huge project that goes all the way from Portland down to the west coast of Tasmania. These gas projects threaten our future. They threaten climate change and also the wildlife that is in our marine ecosystems. Communities do not want gas drilling; we cannot afford any more gas drilling. It is time Victorian Labor followed the lead of the New South Wales government and banned offshore oil and gas drilling in Victoria.