The chief executive of Australia's peak body for the oil and gas industry says no fracking will occur in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin without consent from affected traditional owners or pastoralists. 

Commenting on the Morrison government’s latest grant of $7.5M for fracking exploration in the NT’s Beetaloo Basin, Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation has called for a pause on all exploration and approvals until proper consultation occurs with Traditional Owners and the cumulative risks of fracking for water, sacred sites and native animals are better understood.

Janet Gregory writes, The Beetaloo Basin is my grandmother’s country, on my father’s side. It’s a special place – a mix of plains, dense woodland and shrubs, many of which are native to this area.

The Coalition has re-announced almost $20m for fracking company Empire Energy, a firm with links to the Liberal party, just two months after a court ruled a previous issue of the grants was invalid.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt has reissued millions of dollars in grants to a fracking company searching for gas buried deep in the Beetaloo Basin, just months after a federal judge ruled the grants invalid and "legally unreasonable".

As the wet season approaches the Northern Territory, Traditional Owners are fearful their water could become polluted because of fracking in their local area.

One of Australia’s biggest landholders takes on gas giant in Northern Territory Supreme Court. Santos has been accused of failing Indigenous groups and treating one of the country’s biggest landholders with a “cavalier attitude” as it faces court action over a proposed expansion of its fracking operations in the Beetaloo Basin.

Top End Traditional owners say that a report by energy analyst Reputex which suggests the cost of offsetting carbon emissions could make developing the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin unviable, justifies their argument that more fracking should not go ahead in the NT.

A crucial disallowance vote to prevent fracking in the Northern Territory has failed after both Labor and Coalition Senators opposed the vote on Wednesday.