The community in south eastern SA worked hard for years to gain a 10 year moratorium on the process of fracking.
However, the South Australian Government is moving to lift the fracking ban in the states south east, which will open the door for new gas drilling operations.
As the country faces an energy security crisis due to the attacks on Iran, now is the time to strengthen efforts to ensure energy independence in Australia. Rather than promoting the production of new fossil gas, which will add to global heating and potentially damage ground water and farmland in the highly productive south east corner of SA, the government should continue to pursue options like energy efficiency, renewables and storage.
Please sign our open letter to SA Premier Peter Malinauskas urging him to ensure that the South Australian Government keeps the fracking ban in place.
You can also email him directly – simply cut and paste the text in the open letter, add your own thoughts, include your name and address, and send to: [email protected]
Dear Premier Malinauskas,
I support the ban on fracking
I am deeply concerned to learn that the South Australian government is planning to lift the ban in the states south east.
South Australia has been leading the country in its adoption of renewables and storage, and any move to reopen the south east of the state to drilling will undermine both forward movement on the energy transmission and undermine SA's reputation as a progressive state on energy policy.
The moratorium was put in place in response to widespread community opposition to fracking in the south-east. A parliamentary inquiry concluded the industry had no social licence, while a survey found 95% of people wanted their region to remain gasfield free.
This decision will put the interests of the fossil gas industry ahead of the communities wish to remain Frack Free. It will threaten local economic activity in an area with important farming operations and food processing and a thriving food based tourism industry. It will threaten ground water and contribute to further climate change.
Communities are already feeling the impacts of the climate crisis through drought, flood, heatwaves and fires. Forward looking and responsible governments should be phasing out fossil fuels - not encouraging their expansion.
I urge you to keep the fracking ban in place and put our communities, our economy and our landscapes ahead of the profits of the fossil fuel industry.
your sincerely,