A legal challenge has been launched over plans to drill and frack 12 exploratory wells in the Beetaloo Basin, about 300km south of Darwin.
The Central Australian Frack Free Alliance will legally challenge gas company Tamboran's fracking approval and will ask the NT Supreme Court to review the decision of NT Environment Minister Lauren Moss last November to approve the project's Environmental Management Plan.
Through its lawyers, the Environmental Defenders Office, CAFFA will argue the Environmental Management Plan approval was invalid because Minister Moss "failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts of the project".
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In particular, CAFFA said it would argue the minister should have considered the climate impacts of future gas projects that this exploration will enable.
NT Environment Minister Lauren Moss approved the Environmental Management Plan in November 2022.
According to CAFFA, the International Energy Agency said in 2021 there can be no new gas fields if the world is to stand a chance of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, and therefore avoiding the worst impacts of catastrophic climate change.
CAFFA spokeswoman Hannah Ekin said by approving the exploration application, the Minister was "laying the grounds for potentially thousands" of fracking wells to be drilled in the NT.
"Tamboran's project would help facilitate the drilling of vast new gas fields across the heart of the Territory - what the gas industry calls the 'Beetaloo Basin'," Ms Ekin said.
"This would have a catastrophic impact on runaway climate change and affect the lives of everyone who resides here in the Territory."
Ms Ekin accused the NT government of not doing "anything meaningful" to protect Territorians "from the risk of fracking".
"Tamboran's fracking plans could cause significant impacts on water resources that are vital to the future of the Territory, through unsustainable water take and potential contamination from leaks and spills," she said.
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Environmental Defenders Office CEO David Morris said on behalf of CAFFA his office will be arguing that Tamboran's environmental plan wasn't "lawfully assessed" as not all the risks were identified and considered.
"The company has publicly opposed targets set by international climate agreements, so it is not surprising its environmental management plan fails to identify key environmental risks," he alleges.
"The law places the responsibility on the minister to ensure all risks are identified and considered. We say she failed in that task."
For years, Indigenous groups in the Beetaloo have argued fracking could destroy more than 65,000 years of cultural history and would contribute to climate change.
Marlinja Community Mudburra Elder Ray Dimakarri Dixon said fracking was a "big risk".
"We want to protect our water, it's very important, it's our culture, it's our ceremony, and our songlines," he said.
"Once the damage is done no one can fix it.
"It's not right for a new company to come in and do more damage."
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Annie Hesse
I am an award-winning media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcast, as well as photography and videography. I am the NT Correspondent at Australian Community Media and I write for my hometown newspaper, the Katherine Times. I love telling people's stories, and I am passionate about giving those a voice who may otherwise remain unheard. When I am not busy putting pen to paper, I spend time in my garden, go bushwalking or travel across the Northern Territory, Australia or the world. In my spare time I write, illustrate and publish books.
I am an award-winning media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcast, as well as photography and videography. I am the NT Correspondent at Australian Community Media and I write for my hometown newspaper, the Katherine Times. I love telling people's stories, and I am passionate about giving those a voice who may otherwise remain unheard. When I am not busy putting pen to paper, I spend time in my garden, go bushwalking or travel across the Northern Territory, Australia or the world. In my spare time I write, illustrate and publish books.
