Momentum is building for multi-party support for an end to offshore gas and oil drilling in NSW.
A wave of support from across the political and social spectrum is building for a Bill to end new offshore gas and oil projects, put forward by the NSW Coalition Opposition, ahead of an expert roundtable on the Bill and relevant issues in NSW Parliament today.
Surfers for Climate, which has worked for months on the Bill and at building cross-party support for the end of new offshore oil and gas projects, will hold the expert roundtable today and has invited every politician across both Houses of Parliament. Key Independents as well as former Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MPs have signaled they’ll attend along with Greens, Liberals and Nationals MPs.
Surfers for Climate CEO Josh Kirkman said surfers, coastal businesspeople, oyster farmers and more were converging on NSW Parliament today, including from the key electorates of South Coast, Oxley, Ballina, Sydney, Manly and Vaucluse.
“Opposition to new offshore oil and gas projects, like PEP 11, is overwhelming. This Bill will end all such projects once and for all. It should be supported by every beachgoer and politician in New South Wales who wants to protect our coastline and our way of life.”
Director of non-partisan charity Solutions for Climate Australia, Dr Barry Traill, said the Bill created a huge opportunity.
“I strongly congratulate the NSW Coalition for stepping up their efforts to ban offshore coal, gas, mineral and petroleum mining and exploration in NSW waters. This move should encourage governments right across Australia to ban these types of activities across our coastline to protect the environment and to drive down emissions,” Dr Traill said.
Centre-right economic think tank The Blueprint Institute CEO David Cross said the energy market had made its decision.
“The economics of energy all point in one direction: renewables firmed with storage. We will only address the challenges of climate change with bipartisan support for forward-looking policies like this Bill, and I encourage all members of the NSW Parliament to support it,” Mr Cross said.
The wave of support comes as Surfing Australia, a non-partisan body representing hundreds of board rider clubs across Australia, stepped into the climate fight for the first time.
Surfing Australia CEO Chris Mater said: “The science is clear: we have to reduce emissions this decade to protect our unique Aussie way of life. I’m thrilled to be here today representing Australia’s peak surfing body to support this Bill. We need to draw a line in the sand on all these offshore projects.”
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