RECENT plans from Norwegian oil giant Equinor to drill in the Great Australian Bight has sparked environmental activism throughout many of South Australia’s communities.
The coastal-led resistance has strengthened following a environment plan from the energy company shows that an oil spill in the Great Australian Bight could reach South East shorelines.
More than 60 people recently gathered on the Robe foreshore to voice their opposition to the proposed drilling activity.
The activists were unanimous in agreeing the threat of an oil spill associated with deep sea drilling in an unpredictably rough Southern Ocean was far too risky.
“If there was ever a community that depended on the health of the Southern Ocean it would be Robe,” resident Tom Davidson said.
“From our lucrative Southern Rock Lobster Fishery to the eco-tourism associated with coastal recreation, or coastal assets are everything.
“It is a clear situation in which economy is environment.
“We must do everything we can to stop this.
“An oil spill would decimate our coastal communities.”
Participants gathered various water crafts including kayaks, surfboards and bodyboards and proceeded to paddle in a grass-roots activist approach to protest the drilling.
The team of protestors encircled the famed pontoon at front beach and joined arms whilst emblazing a banner reading “No Way to Oil Drilling in the Bight”.
“The Southern Ocean hosts an astounding biodiversity of marine life including Southern Right and Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Great White Sharks and a smorgasbord of fish species in pristine habitat,” Mr Davison said.
“It has been well documented that over 85pc of the known species found within the Great Australian Bight are found nowhere else on the planet.”
Following the paddle out, residents and visitors signed a petition opposing the drilling and were encouraged to write letters of opposition to National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) – the regulatory authority overlooking Equinor’s proposal.
The authority will discuss “safe and environmentally responsible management off offshore energy projects” at a South Australian Parliamentary event today.
The regulatory body was invited to participate in the bipartisan forum by Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellakaan.
The forum is funded by the South Australian Parliament and jointly facilitated by Shadow Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis “for the benefit of invited parliamentarians”.
Following criticism by environmental organisation Greenpeace on the appropriateness of the regulator’s attendance, NOPSEMA released a statement saying it sought to “promote the benefits that independent, expertise-based regulation provides.”
“NOPSEMA has a statutory function to promote and advise stakeholders on its regulatory responsibilities and takes this function very seriously,” the statement said.
“In addition to providing regular briefings to parliamentarians across the political spectrum and at all levels of government, NOPSEMA actively engages with a broad range of stakeholders.”
