27th Aug 2020, 12:35 PM – Senate Motions - Oil Exploration - Ban offshore oil and gas exploration

The majority voted against a motion introduced by WA Senator Rachel Siewert (Greens), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) each year the Australian Government releases areas in Australian waters for oil and gas exploration,

(ii) the 2020 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release was announced on 26 August 2020 by the Honourable Keith Pitt MP, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia,

(iii) new areas have been released in Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and

(iv) a number of areas across Australia have already been opened or proposed for oil and gas exploration including the World Heritage listed Ningaloo Reef, the Great Australian Bight, the New South Wales coast under Petroleum Exploration Permit 11 (PEP11), the Otway Basin and Lakes Entrance in Victoria and Tasmania's King Island;

(b) acknowledges that:

(i) seismic exploration and drilling pose a risk to our oceans,

(ii) further research into the impacts of oil and gas exploration on marine life and ecosystems needs to be conducted,

(iii) the New Zealand Government will no longer issue new offshore oil and gas exploration permits, and

(iv) in a time of climate emergency, there is a need to transition to clean energy; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to ban all new offshore oil and gas exploration.