Victoria premier moves to ban unconventional gas development in the state

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Spearheaded by Victoria state premier David Andrews, the Labor government on Tuesday put forward a permanent ban on the exploration for and development of all onshore unconventional gas in the state, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and coal seam gas.

The proposed permanent legislative ban, which will be introduced to Parliament later this year, will protect the ‘clean, green’ reputation of Victoria’s agriculture sector, which employs more than 190 000 people.

Andrews noted that the farmers in Victoria produced some of the world’s cleanest and freshest food and that the government did not want to put that at risk.

“Victorians have made it clear that they don’t support fracking and that the health and environmental risks involved outweigh any potential benefits,” he said, adding that Victoria is Australia’s top food and fibre producer, with exports worth $11.6-billion, and that the ban would protect the state’s reputation for producing high-quality food.

Resources Minister Wade Noonan added that the government had carefully considered the key findings and recommendations of last year’s Parliamentary inquiry into onshore unconventional gas development in Victoria and had made this latest decision “with the best available evidence”.

The 2015 Parliamentary inquiry received more than 1 600 submissions that were mostly opposed to onshore unconventional gas, according to the Labor government.

“There has been a great deal of community concern and anxiety about onshore unconventional gas – this decision gets the balance right,” said Noonan.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), however, believes the ban is a “retrograde step” for the nation, and not just for Victoria, as it will reduce the availability of gas for energy and industrial use across the country.

“This decision removes a key energy generation option from the energy mix and contradicts the recent [Council of Australian Governments] Ministerial communiqué that emphasised the need to increase the overall supply of onshore gas,” commented MCA CEO Brendan Pearson, highlighting that the mining and minerals processing industry was a prominent electricity user, and that the country’s ability to compete globally depended on inexpensive and reliable energy supplies.

“By ruling out new gas supply, there’s a real question as to what exactly will power Victorian (and also New South Wales, South Australian and Tasmanian) homes and businesses in the future.

“These decisions will lead to higher prices for all energy consumers,” said Pearson.

He noted that the Victorian government had already showed its intention to move away from coal-fired electricity generation in the state and that this pre-empted any “reasonable” policy decision with the setting of ambitious renewable-energy targets.

“The Victorian government seems intent on increasing the state’s dependence on expensive and part-time energy sources,” said Pearson, adding that the lessons from South Australia were “irrefutable”.

“Energy prices will go up and reliability and grid stability will suffer,” he said.

Meanwhile, until the Labor government’s proposed ban is passed by Parliament, Victoria’s current moratorium on unconventional onshore gas exploration and development will stay in place.

The Labor government will also legislate to extend the current moratorium until June 30, 2020, while fracking remains banned.

The government noted that exemptions to the ban would remain for other types of activities not covered by the current moratorium, such as gas storage, carbon storage research and accessing offshore resources. Exploration and development for offshore gas would also continue.

Meanwhile, the Australian Labor party committed to undertaking the most extensive scientific, technical and environmental studies in Australia on the risks, benefits and impacts of onshore gas.

“These will be overseen by an expert panel, headed by the lead scientist Amanda Caples, and will include farmers and industry, business and community representatives,” said the government.