fracking on tribal lands

I haven’t attempted to take this sort of action prior to today but Origin Energy, here in Australia, who brand themselves as ‘clean and green’ are about to start fracking operations in the Northern Territory.

I only know about this due to the actions of getup.org.au who have sent out a petition from the tribal owners of the land concerned.

In the strange way in which synchronicity works my previous post mentions fracking in uncomplimentary terms. The tribal owners come from an area from which a group of tribal men came and worked with myself in the mid seventies. I was left with the highest respect for their culture, spirituality and approach to country.

I don’t have a large readership and I don’t use social media but I can place the petition here and would urge you to sign the petition regardless of where you come from and, if so moved, to pass it on.

 

 My name is Nicole. I am a Garawa woman and my family are from Borroloola, in the gulf of the Northern Territory. For years, Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory have stood up against the fracking that will destroy sacred country, poison our drinking water and harm our health.

But powerful gas company Origin Energy has just launched a push to start drilling test wells in the Northern Territory as soon as June.1 They're hoping to find not only gas, but oil too. If they find oil, they'll push harder and faster and it will be even harder to stop them.

Origin has spent months rebranding themselves as a clean, green and responsible company – but this move reveals the truth.

Together, we need to show Origin Energy that the community, and their customers, won't stand by and allow them to destroy the Northern Territory with dirty fracking and oil drilling. Our best chance of stopping this project is if we can show that thousands of Australians won't let Origin's 'good energy' image survive their dirty fracking plans.

Can you sign my petition calling out Origin's dirty plan to frack for oil and gas in the Northern Territory?

If Origin have their way, this could be Australia's first land-based shale oil and gas field. It's a disaster for land, water and the Aboriginal communities who have made their stance clear — the NT will not be the sacrifice zone for an industry we do not want or need. On top of that, Origin has never consulted with Traditional Owners to frack for oil.

Last year I saw the horrific impacts of shale oil fields when I travelled to Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota, USA. The night was lit up with gas flares. Oil pipelines, that spill millions of litres of oil across the United States every year, criss-crossed the landscape.2 Lakes and rivers were polluted with waste water.3 Everywhere First Nations people have witnessed the destructive impact fracking has on culture, health and communities.4

Can you urgently stand with First Nations communities across the Northern Territory and call on Origin to stop oil and gas fracking?

I can't stand the thought of this happening in the Northern Territory. We can't let Origin get away with calling themselves clean and sustainable while destroying sacred country, polluting water and harming our health.

Origin claims it's leading the way for clean and sustainable energy, even undergoing an expensive rebrand to come up with an outrageous new slogan: 'good energy.' All the while planning massive oil and gas fields that would destroy water and country, and add millions of tonnes of carbon pollution to the atmosphere.

We don't have time to waste - can you ask Origin to dump its dirty and dangerous fracking plans?

We've seen the weight of people power force Origin to come clean before. The Origin Annual General Meeting in October was dominated by the concerns of Traditional Owners from Elliot and Minyerri.5 Traditional Owners extracted an astounding admission on the floor of the AGM: that the company cannot guarantee that fracking won't destroy water aquifers in the NT.6

Last year, we took this fight to the Northern Territory Government, calling on them to maintain the moratorium on fracking. After an inquiry that ignored oil fracking risks, the government reneged on their promise, giving the green light to devastating new fracking fields. Now, it's time to take it directly to Origin.

We've won the fight against big polluters before and we can do it again. Together, let's make sure the NT's land and water stays safe, and we protect scared country for generations to come.

In determination,
Nicole, for the GetUp team.