Labor to review Bight oil drill spill potential
News
Bill Shorten says an incoming federal Labor government would commission a study into the consequences of a future oil spill in the Great Australian Bight.
Norwegian energy giant Equinor says the Bight “could be one of Australia’s largest untapped oil reserves” and wants to drill a well more than 370 kilometres off the coast of South Australia.
Drilling of the proposed Stromlo-1 well will begin in the summer of 2020/21 if it receives all necessary regulatory approval.
Beach protests have been held around the country condemning the project, including in the NSW south coast seat of Gilmore where the Labor leader campaigned on Wednesday.
“If I form a government, one of my first decisions will be to get an oil spill study,” Shorten said.
“I want to understand the consequences of an oil spill in the Bight … and I think that that is what is concerning a lot of our surfers and people who care about our coastline.”
Equinor has submitted an environmental draft plan to the regulator for offshore petroleum safety.
-AAP
Want to comment?
Send us an email, making it clear which story you’re commenting on and including your full name (required for publication) and phone number (only for verification purposes). Please put “Reader views” in the subject.
We’ll publish the best comments in a regular “Reader Views” post. Your comments can be brief, or we can accept up to 350 words, or thereabouts.
InDaily has changed the way we receive comments. Go here for an explanation.
Local News Matters
Media diversity is under threat in Australia – nowhere more so than in South Australia. The state needs more than one voice to guide it forward and you can help with a donation of any size to InDaily. Your contribution goes directly to helping our journalists uncover the facts. Please click below to help InDaily continue to uncover the facts.
