The Prime Minister has stacked the unaccountable National Covid Commission with his mining mates and are spruiking their own interests above that of the Australian people as we grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.
GetUp's Head of Campaigns Emily Mulligan said:
“We’ve had an avalanche of announcements this week, pushed by the vested interests of the gas industry to revive washed up, unviable gas projects.
“Now today the people of the Northern Territory are being sold a lemon with Gunner and Morrison plugging a sales pitch from the dying gas industry desperate to kickstart their doomed projects.
“We know these projects are financially unviable, they have no legs without public money, yet the government continues to be a mouthpiece for the industry peddling the myth of cheap gas.
“The Gunner government has already given $94 million of public money to the dying gas industry - when will the public handouts for their fossil fuel mates end?
“Gas isn’t the answer to this crisis, it doesn’t have any of the solutions its backers claim. Gas is expensive, won’t create jobs and can’t build a clean energy future.
“Fracking the Beetaloo Basin is the equivalent of building 50 new coal fired power stations, it’s guaranteed to drive dangerous and irreversible climate change.
“Communities across the Territory have been saying no to fracking for decades because they know the consequences will be disastrous. It would be a climate bomb, destroying country, sacred sites and water.
“Right now we have a unique opportunity to transform Australia by supporting diverse, future facing industries which will reduce our emissions, grow jobs and support climate action. That’s the leadership people across the country want to see.”