Victorian Labor has signed off on a gas extraction permit for Beach Energy, the gas corporation owned by billionaire Kerry Stokes (chairman of media monolith Seven Network). Beach Energy will be able to start pumping gas directly under the Port Campbell National Park, adjacent to the Twelve Apostles, by the end of June.
In July 2024, fossil fuel companies aim to start seismic blasting, the first step towards oil and gas drilling under the ocean floor between Victoria and Tasmania. The TGS seismic blasting proposal is the biggest in the world, and runs through critical whale habitat.
Loud blasts of air will be sent into the seabed every 10-15 seconds, for weeks or even months. These blasts can be heard hundreds of kilometres away and are loud enough to deafen whales, ruin lobsters’ balance, and severely injure or kill shellfish and zooplankton.
Despite protests from Gunditjmara Traditional Custodians and coastal communities, the Federal and State Labor Governments have so far supported this project.
The end game of seismic blasting is gas and oil extraction: huge offshore drilling rigs that are immediately destructive to marine ecosystems and that contribute to the ongoing climate crisis.
The Greens have a plan to ban offshore oil and gas drilling. Sign to support our call!
The Labor State Government has more than a dozen other new gas projects in the works. Huge transnational corporations hope to set oil and gas rigs up from the southwest coast of Victoria all the way to Tasmania. The corporations hope to profit from fossil fuel projects in our oceans. Massive oil and gas rigs destroy wildlife and lead to further climate disasters. There is no public benefit to oil and gas drilling in our seas, only corporate profit.
The Greens propose to ban all new offshore oil and gas drilling in Victorian waters. Together we can act for a thriving ocean ecology, for all the incredible marine animals sharing the oceans with us, and for a cooler climate.
Add your name to support the call to end all offshore oil and gas drilling and protect the marine environment.
