The NT government has wasted millions of dollars of public money propping up the gas industry and railroading Traditional Owners consent.
At a time where big fracking companies like Origin Energy are recording revenue slumps and have announced indefinite pauses on their fracking projects, it’s time for state and federal governments to rule out using any more public money to prop up the oil and gas industry.
**GetUp’s First Nations Justice Campaign Director Larissa Baldwin said: **
“This is an outrage, more than $94 million of public money has been wasted bankrolling the failing gas industry.
“Last year Aboriginal peak organisations from across the NT were demanding to know where and how commonwealth funds earmarked for Indigenous disadvantage had gone - taxpayers want to know how the Gunner government is balancing its books.
“During the Covid-19 crisis Northern Territory communities have been asking for urgent funding for medical services and housing, this is where public money must be invested now and into the future.
“We know oil and gas corporations are desperate to build gas pipelines and infrastructure from the Beetaloo basin, but the business case doesn’t stack up. It’s time for the Federal government to rule out providing a single dollar of public money.
“Fracking isn’t the way out of the coronavirus crisis or the climate crisis. Traditional Owners have been standing up against fracking for years because it’s so risky.”