A referendum on fracking should be held at one of the two elections scheduled in the Northern Territory for this year, the former NT opposition leader Delia Lawrie has said.
On Tuesday, Helen Bender from Queensland’s Darling Downs and the US cattle rancher and anti-fracking activist John Fenton warned Territorians that “if you do not think this will impact you, you are very … wrong”.
Bender’s father, the farmer and anti-coal seam gas activist George Bender, took his life last year after years battling gas companies. She said her property had lost two water bores to contamination.
“I can’t ever get my father back but I can ensure that his legacy is one that continues to fight for landholders’ rights and the protection of land and water against greedy gas companies,” she said.
Fenton, who travelled from his home in Pavillion, Wyoming, to meet landowners and pastoralists in Australia, said he had seen a 60% reduction in property value and reduction of cattle stock by 75% on his property. He said they had been warned to open windows and doors when having a shower “so our house doesn’t explode from methane”.
“If you have a concern about this now is the time, now is the chance to get out in front of this,” he said.
He pointed to a Stanford University study of his home town, which found evidence that common fracking practices might have widespread impacts on drinking water.
The NT mining department says fracking has occurred in the NT for more than 20 years without environmental damage and the oil and gas industry has said shale gas extraction is less risky than the CSG extraction on the east coast.
Fenton said it was not CSG on his land.
“The United States has seen the biggest shale drilling operation on the planet and no matter where they’ve gone … there are proven cases of water contamination,” he said.
The issue of hydraulic fracturing to access reserves of shale gas is shaping up to be a defining election issue in the territory. Labor has promised a moratorium should it win office. The government said that promise had hit investor confidence and blamed it for companies cutting back on projects and jobs.
Several Australian jurisdictions have put a halt on fracking but a report by Allan Hawke last year said the practice could be done safely in the NT if the regulatory framework was tightened.
Lawrie, who will stand as an independent at the next election having been disendorsed by Labor, called on both the government and the opposition “to agree to allowing Territorians to have their say on whether or not they want fracking here in the Northern Territory”.
She dismissed suggestions an election would show where Territorians stood.
“At this stage polling has given some indication that Territorians largely don’t want to see fracking,” she said.
“Labor has said they’ll put in a moratorium. What does that actually mean? Does that mean at some stage they will ask Territorians whether they want fracking? A referendum would give whoever the government is post-August a clear, absolute say from Territorians whether they want fracking or not.
“Most of the arguments about referendums are about the cost of establishing one. We’re walking into polling booths in July, we’re walking into polling booths again in August. What’s wrong with a piece of paper being added?”
She said industries such as tourism, agriculture and service provision would provide local jobs and support the NT economy after the $34bn Inpex project completed its construction phase.
A report by Deloitte on Monday warned the NT economy was at a turning point as Inpex construction wound down.
Both Labor and the government rejected the idea. Chief minister Adam Giles said the election would serve as a referendum.
He accused Lawrie of “having a bet each way” by being part of governments which had approved exploration and mining licences.
“On 27 August there will be a referendum in the Northern Territory,” he told media in Darwin.
“It will be an opportunity for Territorians to vote on whether they want jobs, industry development, diversification of our economy, or they want to see private sector jobs stopped,” he said.
A spokesman for the Labor party said its position was clear.
“Labor supports a moratorium on fracking,” he said. “Thorough community consultation will be part of our scientific evaluation process should Labor win government.”
He said at the end of a moratorium fracking would either be banned or allowed “but only under highly regulated circumstances”.
The referendum call comes a day after the mining magnate Gina Rinehart urged attendees at an invitation-only investors forum to look to the NT.
“The territory has more than 200 trillion cubic feet of gas,” Rinehart said. “Potentially enough gas to power Australia for more than 200 years. Pretty special.”
- This story was amended on 19 April 2016 to correct Delia Lawrie’s status. She is standing as an independent at the next territory election, not standing down.
