As part of its so-called climate resilience plan , the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party (CLP) is accelerating fracking for gas in the Beetaloo Basin.
It follows Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro’s greenlighting of Santos’ plan to drill 12 fracking wells in the Beetaloo Basin. Gas corporations want to drill more than 6000 wells there.
NT government data has previously warned that developing a gas field in the Beetaloo Basin would release up to 117 million tonnes of greenhouse gas, equivalent to 22% of the country’s current annual emissions.
Three years ago, the United Nations referred to the NT as a “climate change sacrifice zone” because of the number of gas projects planned, including the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct, which threatens Darwin Harbour .
Developing more fossil fuel resources will exacerbate already harmful planetary warming and put lives and livelihoods at risk.
Hannah Ekin, campaigner with the Arid Lands Environment Centre , said people in the NT are still recovering from unprecedented flooding .
“Many residents in the Top End are still homeless, months after the latest climate tragedy,” Ekin said. “Yet, the government is pouring more fuel on the gas-powered fire of climate disaster, rather than planning how to minimise the harms caused by intensified heatwaves, cyclones and fires.”
The CLP government is repeatedly ma king decisions that benefit the gas industry, while ignoring the catastrophic consequences of climate change. It scrapped the large emitters policy in December 2024; in March last year, it scrapped the NT renewable energy target; and in June of that year it abandoned its promise to establish a 2030 emissions target.
The NT and WA are the only jurisdictions with no climate change or net-zero legislation.
Finocchiaro also introduced the office of the Territory Coordinator last year, which has powers to override social and environmental approvals for major projects. The Territory Coordinator is expected to be used to fast-track gas projects.
The CLP insists that fracked NT gas would supply the east coast market, but the Australian Pipeline Association admits that “Beetaloo is principally going to be an LNG export play”.
Japanese oil company INPEX, which operates a large gas export terminal in Darwin Harbour, paid no corporate income tax on $21 billion in gas exports from 2015–25.
The gas industry is a tiny employer in the NT, according to The Australia Institute, and returns little to nothing in the way of royalties and taxes.
“The only people who’d be giving this so-called climate resilience plan a thumbs up are the gas companies, which are set to make millions from our resources, while we cop the consequences,” NT Greens spokesperson Suki Dorras-Walker said. “The CLP is yet again working for their corporate donors and not for Territorians.”
The gas industry is lobbying for more government subsidies to fund a 1580-kilometre pipeline to connect gas from Beetaloo to export ports in Gladstone and Garramilla.
Territory Labor pledged to oppose public money for gas pipelines in the Nightcliff by-election in March and activists must ensure it sticks to this policy.
[Sign Market Forces’ petition against fracking in the Beetaloo Basin here .]
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