APPEA: moratorium on shale gas exploration risk jobs

APPEA said the Broome Shire Council is to be commended for rejecting an anti-gas declaration that could have put local jobs and investment at risk.

The council voted down a motion that sought to declare the shire “frack-free”.

APPEA Chief Operating Officer Western Region Stedman Ellis said the council had made a sensible decision.

“Councillors were correct to note that responsibility for approving resource projects rests with the State Government,” Ellis said.

He added that the Broome Shire Council has sensibly chosen to embrace economic development for the region by rejecting the anti-gas scare campaign.

Ellis said there was no basis for calls to ban onshore gas operations from the Kimberley.

“On the same day activists were urging Broome to reject hydraulic fracturing, an independent scientific review for the Northern Territory Government declared the process to be safe when properly regulated,” he said. “The Hawke Inquiry considered all of the available science and reviewed hundreds of submissions before declaring there was absolutely no justification for moratoriums.”

Despite the review findings, the Katherine Town Council has effectively voted ‘No’ to local jobs and investment by supporting calls for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development, APPEA informed.

APPEA Northern Territory Director Steven Gerhardy said the council’s moratorium places the region’s future economic development at risk, noting that a single shale-gas exploration program can generate millions of dollars of work for local businesses.

He added that last year, one oil and gas company’s exploration program resulted in $7.5 million worth of contracts for Territory companies.

Gerhardry urged the council to reconsider its decision.

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LNG World News Staff; Image: APPEA