The first fracked gas from the Beetaloo Basin is beginning to reach Darwin. But this dribble of test gas is only the beginning of what the gas industry has planned for the Top End.
Gas companies like Santos want to turn today’s handful of exploratory test projects into thousands of fracking wells across the Top End, threatening precious rivers and springs, Aboriginal land and culture, threatened wildlife and our climate.
But that expansion is not inevitable.
To build a Beetaloo fracking empire, companies like Santos, Tamboran Resources and Beetaloo Energy need major new infrastructure – including pipelines and data centres. One of the next steps for the project is to build APA’s proposed North to East Australia Pipeline, planned to move huge volumes of gas for export.
An independent scientific committee has warned that fracking in the Beetaloo could pose substantial risks to the Northern Territory’s water resources. Full-scale development could also generate around 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over 25 years to 2050 – that’s equivalent to roughly three times Australia’s total annual emissions.
Garrawa senior elder Jack Green has warned the development of this project could have negative impacts on a sacred devil dreaming songline.
ACF has witnessed first-hand the devastating impact the expansion of Beetaloo Energy’s fracking infrastructure is having on Gudanji Country without free, prior and informed consent from Traditional Owners.
Don't let Albo spend your taxes to greenlight Beetaloo fracking!
Fracking gas out of the remote Beetaloo basin is expensive, so we expect Big Gas corporations like Santos to ask Albo for funding – which means using your money to build the pipelines. This fails the pub test when Aussies are already doing it tough in a cost of living crisis, while gas companies are raking it in.
If the private sector will not finance this project on commercial terms, that is not a problem Australian taxpayers should be asked to solve.
Gas from a fully developed Beetaloo fracking industry is expected to be exported overseas – which means economic benefit is sent offshore as well. Australians should not be left with the risks to water, nature, cultural heritage and our climate, while being asked to pay for the infrastructure that makes this damaging industry possible.
The Federal Government should rule out taxpayer subsidies for Beetaloo fracking and APA’s proposed North to East Australia Pipeline – including any and all grants, concessional finance, guarantees or underwriting.
Public money should help build Australia’s future, not prop up a new gas-export industry which actively puts that future at risk.
Take action today!
Tell the Federal Government: no taxpayer money for Beetaloo fracking expansion.
Call on the Albanese Government to rule out taxpayer subsidies that help companies like Santos get Beetaloo gas to market.
Stopping taxpayer support for the APA pipeline is an important first step towards preventing wide-spread Beetaloo fracking and an environmental catastrophe.