A gas company has begun exploration work on a livestock property in the Northern Territory despite opposition from station farmers and some traditional landowners against fracking.
Key points:
- Sweetpea Petroleum begins gas exploration works at Tanumbirini station
- Station owners and some traditional owners oppose fracking
- The NT Civil and Administrative Court forced pastoralists to allow access
Gas company Sweetpea began preparatory work for fracking at Tanumbirini station last week.
The station, located in the gas-rich Beetaloo Basin, 700 miles southeast of Darwin, is run by Rallen Australia.
The company is owned by the Langenhoven-Ravazzotti family, one of NT’s largest and newest livestock producers, who oppose fracking.
The NT Civil and Administrative Court ordered a land access agreement between Rallen and Sweetpea after negotiations between the parties broke down.
He allowed the gas company to enter the station.
Rallen Australia’s chief operating officer, Andrew Stubbs, said the deal had been forced on his company.
“We don’t want gas fracking, we oppose it,” he said.
“We don’t believe that livestock and gas fracking can coexist.”
Rallen will receive a minimum compensation of $ 15,000 for a drilled gas well on the property as part of the deal.
Sweetpea has moved heavy earthmoving equipment to Tanumbirini Station. (Facebook: Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation)
Sweetpea’s lawyers sent letters to Rallen last week, saying the station’s owners could be responsible for costs of more than $ 40,000 a day if they were denied access to the property.
“Sweetpea intends to take all reasonable precautions to ensure that its scheduled access to Tanumbirini Station is unobstructed,” Sweetpea’s attorney Squire Patton Boggs said.
“Such precautions may include, but are not limited to, the involvement of relevant departmental officials and observers, as well as security or law enforcement officers.”
ABC Rural understands that the company was not prevented when it cut off the Tanumbirini fence and built a new gate to access the property late last week.
Tamboran Resources Vice President of Operations and External Affairs David Close said all the work done through his company’s subsidiary Sweetpea had been approved through the company’s environmental management plan.
He said Sweetpea was trying to have a “as cooperative as possible” relationship with the owners.
“Australian and NT laws say there are overlapping tenures, so a pastoral lease can coexist with leases that give rights to mineral exploration or gas exploration,” Close said.
“We are obliged to cooperate and collaborate to allow access to all those holders of valid interests.”
A new alliance
The pastors met with a group of traditional owners at the station to share their concerns about fracking and to “monitor” the company’s activities.
Traditional landlord Loris Hume said she had fond memories of growing up on the old Tanumbirini Station estate, where her two grandparents were buried.
“This country means a lot to me,” Ms. Hume said.
“We used to play [at the homestead] and the old men took us hunting and fishing. ”
Traditional owner Loris Hume is concerned about the impacts of gas exploration. (ABC Rural: Max Rowley)
Ms Hume said she had moved 100 kilometers northwest to the remote community of Minyerri, but returned to the station to worry that her country would become the newest gas field in the world. ‘Australia.
“It simply came to our notice then [gas] company, “he said.
The Northern Land Council, the prescribed corporate entity representing traditional landowners in the Beetaloo region, has said there was an agreement between the native holders, Sweetpea and the council.
But not all traditional landowners in the region were happy with this deal.
Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation President Johnny Wilson said his organization was made up of a number of traditional Beetaloo Basin owners who were concerned about fracking in their country.
The traditional owners traveled to Tanumbirini to inspect a gas well already drilled by Santos. (ABC Rural: Max Rowley)
“My big concern for fracking in our country is our water, our cultural heritage, our sacred sites and our future,” he said.
He said he was concerned that the groundwater was contaminated.
He said the government was not listening to traditional landowners ’concerns about their country, future or sacred sites and cultural heritage.
“They’re not listening to the First Nations people in this country,” he said.
Protection of the sacred place “in force”
Close noted the findings of the 2018 Pepper Inquiry that the risks of fracking could be mitigated if all 135 of its recommendations were met.
The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority issued a certificate of authority to protect the sacred sites of Tanumbirini Station, south of Carpentaria Road, in 2020.
“This certificate is still in force,” said a statement from the authority.
Close said Sweetpea’s civil works were planned in consultation with the authority, so no sacred site would be affected.
“This is something we are diligently ensuring … [that] no impacts [on sacred sites] and we’ve worked hard with the Aboriginal Protection Authority to make sure they’re protected, “said Close.
Rallen is appealing the administrative court’s access orders to the NT Supreme Court in June.
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Posted 7 hours, 7 hours ago, Monday, May 30, 2022 at 8:49 AM, updated 6 hours, 6 hours ago, Monday, May 30, 2022 at 9:27 AM