Surfrider to outline new gas exploration concerns in Torquay

THE Surfrider Foundation will host an event in Torquay tomorrow (Thursday, January 22) outlining its concerns about the new gas exploration proposal in Victorian waters and the growing movement to protect the coast.

On December 11, the federal government announced it would open about 2.5 million hectares of the Southern Ocean to offshore gas exploration under the 2025 Otway Basin acreage release.

This includes five exploration titles: two off Victoria covering around 1.6 million hectares and three off Tasmania spanning about 800,000 hectares.

The Surfrider Foundation Australia says it stands with coastal communities in opposing this acreage release and calling for an end to all new offshore oil and gas exploration in the Southern Ocean, and is also urging people to use its letter-writing tool to contact the federal government and their local federal and state MPs.

“This is about drawing a line — protecting a living ocean and honouring our responsibility to future generations,” it stated.

“Once again, coastal communities across Victoria and Tasmania are being asked to defend the same ocean they fought so hard to protect, as if past victories count for nothing.”

According to Surfrider, the release was not only a policy choice but also “a direct challenge to communities that have already said, loudly and clearly, that this ocean is not for sale”.

“These are not abstract zones on a map. They are places of memory and meaning: where people learn to swim, surfers greet the sunrise, fishers earn a living, and families build their lives alongside the sea. They are home to whale breeding grounds, living reef systems and coastal economies that depend on a healthy ocean to survive.

“Australians have been here before — and we have spoken clearly. In 2019, a nationwide movement won the Fight for the Bight, protecting the Southern Ocean from offshore drilling. In late 2024, communities again mobilised to stop a proposed 7.7 million-hectare seismic blasting program, the largest ever contemplated anywhere in the world. These were not flukes. They were expressions of deep, shared commitment to protecting this ocean.

“And yet, just over a year later, much of that same ocean has been quietly reopened.”

Surfrider’s event will take place at Bells Beach Brewing, 2/22 Baines Crescent, Torquay tomorrow (Thursday, January 22) from 6.30pm.