- Albanese Government cannot claim a new era for nature while handing over 25,000 square kilometres of ocean to the oil and gas industry
- Globally significant vital habitat for endangered pygmy blue and southern right whales under threat
- This decision undermines trust and exposes the widening gap between the government’s climate and nature commitments, and its actions
The Albanese government’s decision to release huge swathes of Commonwealth waters in the Otway Basin, between Victoria and north-west Tasmania, for new offshore oil and gas exploration is deeply concerning and directly at odds with Australia’s own climate targets and nature commitments, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) said today.
Nearly 25,000 km2 of ocean has been offered up for further fossil fuel expansion in an area that is home to 42 threatened species, including critical habitat for endangered southern right whales and pygmy blue whales.
Just weeks after the Prime Minister declared the passage of new nature laws was ‘heralding a new era for the environment’, his government has opened the door to more fossil fuel expansion in some of the most sensitive waters in the country.
AMCS CEO, Paul Gamblin said: “You cannot claim a new era for nature while handing over 25,000 square kilometres of ocean to the oil and gas industry.
“At the very moment we should be accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels, the government is opening up some of Australia’s most sensitive marine environments to new oil and gas exploration. These waters are vital for endangered whales, rich feeding systems and globally significant biodiversity.”
The five offshore acreage release areas sit alarmingly close to Nelson and Zeehan Marine Parks, with one being just over 1 km away from the boundary at its nearest point. It is also a critical feeding area for pygmy blue whales, which migrate thousands of kilometres from Indonesian waters to feed here.
The proposed exploration zones overlap with designated Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) for both the blue whale and southern right whale. These areas are also at continued risk from seismic blasting – a practice known to disrupt whale communication, feeding and migration – and a Senate Seismic enquiry held in 2020 recommended no seismic exploration in or next to marine parks.
“Only a few hundred kilometres away, the huge algal bloom off South Australia continues to wreak havoc, and our great coral reefs bleached simultaneously for the first time ever this year.
“Inviting fossil fuel corporations to make climate change even worse as our fragile ocean suffers from climate harm undermines trust and exposes a widening gap between the government’s climate and nature commitments and its actions.
“Australians expect leadership on climate and ocean protection that is consistent and credible. The government must step away from old world, destructive industries like oil and gas.”