Traditional Owners from Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, working to protect country from fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, today welcomed greater scrutiny of gas companies' water use, with the Federal government introducing amendments to expand the ‘water trigger’ to cover fracking, in line with recommendations of the Pepper Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the NT.
The amendments will allow major new fracking proposals to be assessed by independent experts for their impacts on water, including sacred waterways such as Newcastle Creek which runs across the Beetaloo Basin and close to new and proposed fracking wells.
Djingili elder and Nurrdalinji Director Janet Gregory, from Elliott and now living in Alice Springs said, “Aboriginal people are responsible for the health of our lands and water. But if fracking damages our water it can’t be healed.
“If our water is lost or poisoned, where are we going to go. What will happen to our law, to our language, to our culture and to our country?
“Our country is getting sick and one day maybe it will die. All the gas companies care about is monetary gain, but we can’t afford to lose our water.
“We're going to keep standing up for the birds, the animals, the children, the old people and the country itself and the water that it contains, because this is life.
“The Federal government has done the right thing by our water, and we appreciate their work and the work of The Greens and independent MPs who have listened to us and helped to make this happen.”
Background
The Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation includes native title holders from the Amungee Mungee, Beetaloo, Hayfield, Kalala, Newcastle Waters - Murranji, Nutwood Downs, Shenandoah, Tandyidgee, Tanumbirini, Daly Waters Township, Ucharonidge native title determinations.
The Beetaloo sub-basin is located around 500 kilometres south-east of Darwin. It embraces Aboriginal land, pastoral leases (which co-exist with Native Title rights and interests), horticultural enterprises, cattle stations and remote Aboriginal communities. A number of companies are currently undertaking fracked gas drilling in the Beetaloo, with a view to expanding their projects across the region.
Photos: Nurrdalinji Directors and members, with flaring gas well behind, on Tanumbirini Cattle Station, here.
Fracking in the Beetaloo
The NT Government estimated in the NT Pepper Inquiry Final Report (p 98) that over 6,000 wells could be drilled in the Beetaloo if the fracking industry progresses.
First Nations communities raised serious concerns with the Inquiry about the threat of fracking in the Beetaloo to country, cultural values and landscapes, and water sources, and the lack of free, prior and informed consent processes.
Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation
The Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation includes native title holders from the Amungee Mungee, Beetaloo, Hayfield, Kalala, Newcastle Waters - Murranji, Nutwood Downs, Shenandoah, Tandyidgee, Tanumbirini, Daly Waters Township, Ucharonidge native title determinations.
The Beetaloo sub-basin is located around 500 kilometres south-east of Darwin. It embraces Aboriginal land, pastoral leases (which co-exist with Native Title rights and interests), horticultural enterprises, cattle stations and remote Aboriginal communities. A number of companies are currently undertaking fracked gas drilling in the region, with most of the NT covered by exploration permits.