Our Concerns:
Fracking is an expensive, dirty and dangerous way of extracting gas from layers of shale deep under the ground. The process requires millions of litres of water, and hundreds of tonnes of chemicals. Drilling for gas destroys our environment and cultural landscapes and threatens to contaminate our groundwater supply.
Traditional Owners and communities living in the area most under threat of fracking, the Beetaloo Basin, have for years voiced their concerns about the impacts fracking would have on their water, Country, culture and communities. These concerns are share by people right across the NT, with countless surveys showing the vast majority of Territorians believe fracking is not safe, not trusted and not wanted.
Gas is a fossil fuel which makes climate change worse. If just one gasfield in the NT, the Beetaloo Basin, is opened up for a full scale fracking industry, this could release the equivalent of 22 percent of Australia's annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Gas is a job-poor industry and won’t help lower electricity prices, with most of the gas extracted in Australia shipped offshore. Yet the Morrison government spent millions on grants directly to gas companies and promised hundreds of millions more in subsidies for the industry, while the new Albanese government has not yet made it clear whether they will continue this wasteful and unpopular use of taxpayer money or redirect it towards the transition to renewables we desperately need. Publicly funded gas infrastructure will become stranded assets in a world that is rapidly moving toward renewable energy.
ALEC has campaigned to stop fracking in the Northern Territory for nearly a decade, and continues to campaign to block the development of the Beetaloo sub-basin and associated pipelines across the NT.
The past month has seen such an amazing groundswell of opposition to the NT Government's announcement they want to greenlight fracking, and it's definitely making an impact.
Our governments are feeling the heat as Traditional Owners, Scientists, Federal politicians, the fracking inquiry independent overseer and communities across the Northern Territory have come out to demonstrate their concerns about the consequences of this decision for climate, water and culture. This massive effort has thrust the issue of Fracking in the NT into the national spotlight, and demonstrated clearly to the fracking companies and the government that we are not going to let this one through.
now is a great time to get involved in the campaign! if you'd like to be part of the campaign locally, contact our fracking campaign coordinator Hannah at [email protected]
Arid Lands Environment Centre has supported the movement against fracking in Central Australia for almost a decade now, and we are committed to continuing to do so until we get a permanent ban on fracking. However this work has costs, and we need your help to continue doing so into the future.
Donate to the campaign to help stop fracking
Stronger together
Communities in the NT are in firing line of fracking and the risk this dangerous practice poses to precious groundwater, while the emissions associated with fracking puts all Australians at risk. ALEC works alongside these local, regional and national organisations in the campaign to stop fracking.
Central Australian Frack Free Alliance
The Central Australian Frack Free Alliance (CAFFA) is a grassroots alliance of concerned citizens in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and surrounds working to protect water, health, community and Country in Central Australia by opposing onshore shale gas projects in the NT.
volunteer, come to events or join the organising committee with CAFFA
Lock the Gate Alliance
The Lock the Gate Alliance is a national grassroots organisation made up of over 120,000 supporters and more than 450 local groups who are concerned about risky coal mining, coal seam gas and fracking. These groups are located in all parts of Australia and include farmers, traditional custodians, conservationists and urban residents.
Protect Country Alliance
The Protect Country Alliance brings together impacted landholders, communities, and civil society groups concerned about gas fracking proposals or projects in the Northern Territory. The Alliance is made up of delegates representing regional communities across the NT including; Elliott, Marlinja, Minyeri, Borroloola, Mataranka, and Jilkmingan.
our vision:
Across the Territory, the transition to clean energy offers the opportunity to create thousands of skilled local jobs, lift communities out of energy poverty, and power the revitalisation of remote and regional economies. ALEC advocates for a just transition to 100% renewable energy to ensure a liveable climate and safe future for all.