Environment Centre NT: ‘Slap in the face’: Environmentalists criticise Minister Pitt’s decision to re-award controversial fracking grants.
Environmentalists have criticised Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt’s decision to re-award taxpayer grants to fracking company Imperial, calling it a slap in the face for Territorians.
Speaking via Zoom to an Energy Club NT event last night in Darwin, Pitt announced his intention to direct $19.4 million in public funds to support the drilling of three exploratory fracking wells. The same grants were struck down by the Federal Court last year after a challenge brought by the Environment Centre NT. The judge found that Minister Pitt’s decision to award the earlier grants had been legally “unreasonable and capricious”.
Kirsty Howey, Co-Director of the Environment Centre NT says that “Territorians will be outraged by Minister Pitt’s decision to channel public money into the pockets of gas companies, after the last grants were challenged in court.”
“Pitt’s conduct was found by the court to be capricious and unreasonable. To turn around and re-award these grants goes against public expectations about how taxpayer money should be spent. Government should be supporting jobs in long-term, sustainable industries, not handing out support to its fossil fuel executive mates.”
Pitt’s presence at the event was met by a demonstration of community members opposing the public funding of fossil fuel projects. Territorians held signs saying ‘Frack off Keith Pitt’ and ‘No more public $ for gas’.
The Environment Centre NT has recently lodged a submission concerning new fracking plans of Imperial Oil and Gas. Imperial’s own Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the project revealed that, from exploration alone, the greenhouse gas emissions would be equal to 4.6% of the Territory’s entire emissions.
Kirsty Howey says that “Imperial are seeking to extend their reach over the Northern Territory with these new fracking proposals. They have no plans to offset their emissions—and these are just exploration emissions, let alone what the emissions from production would be.
The International Energy Agency has said no new gas projects can go online if we are to avoid scenarios of catastrophic warming, but here we have Minister Pitt hurtling the Territory towards climate disaster by continuing to support the fossil fuel industry with taxpayer dollars.”
