Tehan backs regulator’s call on seismic testing

WANNON Liberal federal member Dan Tehan said he would be guided by the advice of Australia’s offshore petroleum safety regulator on whether two international oil services companies should be allowed to seismically test the Otway Basin.

TGS and Schlumberger’s plan to 3D map an ocean floor area equivalent to the size of Tasmania has drawn widespread criticism because of its predicted impact on marine life, the local fishing industry and the broader environment.

Mr Tehan was unaware of the plan until briefed by members of the Otway Climate Emergency Action Network (OCEAN) in October, and has since been briefed by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) about the proposal.

“I feel very satisfied they take the most rigorous scientific approach to assess any application to seismic test in Australian waters, and I have full confidence in making sure that everything we do is based on proper science and that is the approach that they take,” he said this week.

Two weeks ago, NOPSEMA confirmed an “ongoing” investigation into whether Schlumberger complied with its Environment Plan when it last mapped the Otway Basin in 2020 and sonar blasted over a World War I and World War II dump site for chemical and artillery weapons.

Mr Tehan said he was not concerned by the company’s latest proposal, saying “NOPSEMA have processes and procedures to make sure that the approach that is set out for any company that is undertaking seismic testing is followed, and they follow up to ensure that is the case”.

Last week, Kooyong independent federal member Dr Monique Ryan submitted a petition of more than 2,600 signatures to Parliament opposing all seismic testing off the Australian coast and withdrawing allocated oil and gas titles. “The people of the [Colac] Otway Shire, of my electorate of Kooyong, and of Victoria and South Australia have signed this petition… the people of Australia want no more fossil fuel projects off our beautiful coastlines, we implore the government to protect our marine ecology and habitat,” she said.

“There is something gravely wrong when an area of seabed larger than Tasmania can be made available to overseas based firms for speculative seismic blasting before the Australian government has even considered whether the fossil fuel extraction from those sites would be appropriate.”

The Colac Otway Shire council restated its longstanding opposition to the proposal in September, with then-mayor Kate Hanson saying “numerous scientific studies show that seismic testing interferes with marine life, including plankton and rock lobsters”.

“NOPSEMA does not have the power to refuse seismic testing because the Australian government currently has a policy that supports offshore oil and gas exploration,” she said.