Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Oil and gas exploration

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (18:31): (627) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy and Resources, and the action I am seeking is for her to advocate to the federal government to stop ConocoPhillips from drilling for gas and oil in the Otway Basin. Recently American fossil fuel giant ConocoPhillips released its environmental plan for test drilling for oil and gas in the Otway Basin. The public now has 30 days to submit to the federal regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, about the proposed Otway exploration drilling program. This program will see up to six exploratory wells drilled into the sea floor off the coast of south-west Victoria and King Island in Tasmania.

At 3579 pages you would think the environmental plan was comprehensive, but in all those pages there is not a single reference to emissions or the impact that this project will have on climate change, which is pretty astounding. How can a fossil fuel project not be required to consider emissions as part of its environment plan? It speaks to the state and federal governments’ willingness to ignore the science and continue to approve offshore gas exploration in a climate emergency. The environment plan does make clear that the proposed drilling area encompasses two marine national parks and is home to critically endangered species such as the curlew sandpiper, the eastern curlew, the blue whale and the culturally significant southern right whale, known as Koontapool Yakeen by the Gunditjmara people. But nowhere in this environmental plan does it consider the implications deep-sea drilling will have on the migratory paths, feeding cycles and calving of these species.

The oil spill modelling included in the report paints a dire picture for our beautiful coastlines. From Portland in the west to Jervis Bay in the east, the extent of an oil spill would devastate the environment and coastal communities. The last time I spoke of offshore gas in this place, the minister responded that the project proposals referenced are in Commonwealth waters and therefore are a federal issue. Tell that to the Victorian communities that would have oil lapping at their shores if there were to be an accident and disaster struck.

Many people, including those in this place, will flock down to the iconic coastlines of my electorate of Western Victoria this summer, and as they are enjoying the beaches I would urge them to consider what is at stake. The Victorian government have a duty to protect our marine environment, our coastal communities and our climate, and I would urge them to do so.