Tasmanian farmers have welcomed the news of the renewed ban on fracking. Photo: stock
Tasmania has extended its ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) by another five years in a move welcomed by farmers.
Fracking refers to the injection of fluid at high pressure into underground rock to open fissures and allow trapped gas or crude oil to flow through a pipe at the surface.
Minister for Industry and Resources Eric Abetz says the ban will remain in place until March 2030.
“This was a ban we initially put in place in 2015 in response to concerns from our farmers and the community more broadly which we extended in 2020,” he says.
“Now we’re extending it again.”
Abetz says a 2015 review into fracking in Tasmania highlighted big risks to farming and public and environmental health which prompted the ban.
“By extending this moratorium we are ensuring Tasmania’s long-term prosperity and maintaining our reputation as a leader in clean, sustainable practices ”
“The extension provides clarity and security for farmers, landowners, and regional communities, whose concerns about land access and environmental risks have been integral to this decision.”
He says the government will continue to liaise with all parties and monitor global developments in resource extraction technologies.
TASFARMERS
Tasmania’s peak body for farmers says it strongly supports the extension.
TasFarmers chief executive officer Nathan Calman says farmers often bear the brunt of the negative impacts of fracking and welcomed the news.
“Farmers and land managers are the ones who carry the potential risks when it comes to fracking,” he says.
“Avoiding it until 2030 is a good decision that provides farmers with much-needed certainty.
“Landholders would never profit from fracking on their land; it is only miners or the government who would benefit,” Calman says.
“That’s why we are steadfastly opposed to fracking.”
“We have observed the national experience with fracking closely and concluded that the risks and negative impacts on farmland, or even adjacent farmland, are too significant to ignore,” Calman says.
TasFarmers believes the government’s decision provides certainty and safeguards Tasmania’s farms.
