Senate inquiry hears of upset over $21m in grants being given to companies while Indigenous community lacks even basic infrastructure.
Traditional owners opposed to fracking in the Beetaloo Basin have condemned the Morrison government for handing tens of millions of dollars to gas companies while Indigenous communities lack basic housing and health infrastructure.
A Senate inquiry on Monday heard from a series of traditional owners in the Northern Territory about plans to open up the Beetaloo Basin to gas exploration and fracking.
The plan is part of the so-called “gas-led recovery” for stimulating economic growth following the pandemic and the federal government has already handed $21m in grants to Empire Energy, a firm with some links to the Liberal party, for exploratory drilling.