The Greens today tabled in the State Parliament their Mineral Resources Development (Hydraulic Fracturing) Amendment Bill 2015, which seeks to implement a permanent ban on fracking across the state.
“The Greens have followed through on our public commitment to move for a permanent ban on fracking in Tasmania by tabling this Bill,” Greens Leader and Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth MP said today.
“Many in the community believe that the only guarantee provided by the government’s extended moratorium is ongoing uncertainty, especially given the bizarre provision allowing exploration to continue during the moratorium.”
“Our farmers deserve complete certainty about investing in long term cropping and stock business cases.”
“Landowners deserve the certainty that they can say not on my land, should mineral exploration identify any shale oil or unconventional gas deposits beneath them.”
“The community deserves the certainty that our crucial groundwater aquifers and waterways will remain clean and unpolluted by fracking-related chemical contamination.”
“The mining sector should also have complete clarity about what the Tasmanian people will not accept, now or into the future, and that is the fracking of our land.”
“This is the certainty that the Greens’ Fracking Ban Bill intends to provide our farmers, landowners and the community,” Mr Booth said.