Gas terminal fight heats up as decision looms

WITH a decision on Viva Energy’s floating gas terminal expected by the end of March, community opponents gathered at North Shore’s Moorpanyal Park on Sunday to again call on the Victorian government to reject the proposal.

As part of the protest, demonstrators formed a “human sign” that read “No gas terminal”, while chanting “No way, not in our bay” and “Yes to renewables”.

Geelong Sustainability program co-ordinator Karina Donkers praised the “amazing community response” to what she labelled a “deeply concerning issue”.

“We have come here today because our beautiful bay, our community and our future are under threat,” she said during the rally.

She pointed to community concerns about air pollution (“There is no safe level”), the potential impact of the terminal on local tourism and recreation, the environmental effects “significant dredging” may have on the bay and its marine life, and the safety of the more than 30,000 residents living “within the incident zone”.

Ms Donkers said the community had reached a “pivotal” point in their more than two-year campaign against the terminal, as a final decision on the proposal by the Planning Minister draws closer.

“That is why it is so important that we are making our voices as loud and as strong as possible, so that they cannot ignore us, so that our politicians can hear us, can understand what the community’s concerns are and see that we are a strong community in Geelong,” she said.

Environment Victoria organiser Victor Komarovsky said communities, when they come together, were powerful enough to win and “build the change” they deserve, and called on the state government to accelerate its transition toward “cheaper, healthier and less polluting alternatives” to remove the need to import gas.

“Gas is on track to become the single largest share of Victoria’s climate emissions in the next 10 years – even more than coal.

“If Viva had their way, they would be importing this gas terminal and driving up emissions until at least 2048.

“If we embrace all electric homes and businesses, we won’t need to import gas, we won’t need this gas import terminal.”

Viva Energy’s proposed floating storage and regasification unit would be installed next to its existing refinery in Corio Bay.

It will store and convert LNG back into natural gas, while visiting carriers will transport LNG from other parts of Australia and overseas into the bay.

Ahead of the protest, a spokesperson for Viva Energy said the organisation had engaged in a comprehensive environmental approvals process to identify and address safety and environmental concerns associated with the project, and expert modelling had confirmed the project “will not significantly impact Corio Bay or its marine environment”.