A new bill passed by Parliament will protect Australia’s groundwater and all of the country from fracking - except Western Australia, which was intentionally excluded from these protections.
Despite politicians' efforts to amend the bill to make sure WA was protected from fracking, both major parties voted it down, likely because of WA's large reserve of shale gas.
Shale gas extraction uses toxic chemicals and has a devastating effect on groundwater supplies. Western Australia's huge shale gas reserve shouldn't leave its land, water, and inhabitants vulnerable to the fossil fuel industry.
WA deserves groundwater protection along with the rest of the country. Tell Parliament to protect Western Australia from fracking!
We, the undersigned, believe Western Australia has as much right to groundwater protection as the rest of the country.
In an interview with an ABC correspondent, Senator Ludlam said that WA should be informed about the bill and that the kind of heated “collision“ the community is seeing between landholders, environmentalists and the fossil fuel industry could potentially be avoided by WA “acting with a bit of foresight rather than regret - and that means taking on these kind of protections when we can.”
Noting that there’s already been one case where over a million litres of diesel were pumped at high pressure underground in the environmentally sensitive Whicher Ranges near Busselton,” Conservation Council of Western Australia is calling for a moratorium on fracking until there are regulations in place that guarantee full protection for the environment, groundwater, and human health.
Furthermore CCWA and others like Stanford's Mark Jacobson have provided evidence that fugitive emissions from fracking make it as bad for the environment as dirty coal.
Just because WA has a large reserve of shale gas does not mean it is wise or safe to extract it. The irreversible harm caused by fracking in no way justifies the money that will be made from it, mostly by an elite few.
We request that the government include Western Australia in its groundwater protections and protect it and its inhabitants from fracking.
