Vote for the coast

ON a Saturday morning back in March, over a thousand Surf Coast residents paddled out as a group at Torquay’s Cosy Corner. It was a statement of their opposition to the world’s largest seismic blasting project, planned for waters off Torquay.

Proposed by a pair of multinational companies, the plan was to seismic blast a 31,500 square kilometre area of ocean over the course of four years, searching for gas deposits underneath the sea floor.

The air gun blasts – louder than atomic bombs – are designed to penetrate kilometres of seafloor and are devastating to marine life in the vicinity, from whales all the way down to tiny plankton. The blasting proposal would be the first step in opening that whole area as offshore gas fields that would pollute for decades.

 

After years of community opposition, the seismic blasting project was eventually scrapped back in September. It was a huge win, and a clear statement that the people who live along these coasts recognise them as precious, and don’t want them handed over to fossil fuel companies.

Gas has been in production in the Otway Basin for almost 20 years, however right now the industry is mounting pressure to speed up the industrialisation of the area, now pushing further into more sensitive zones such as globally significant whale sanctuaries and vital fisheries. Even the iconic Twelve Apostles aren’t safe.

Regular warnings of gas shortages come at a time when Australia is awash with gas in production. Australian homes use only 2.5 per cent of the gas we produce. The LNG export industry accounts for 80 per cent. The gas industry is allowed to chase profits on the global market and then cries of gas shortages at home, demanding access to great stretches of Australia’s precious coastline and marine environment to blast and drill even more.

 

The Surfrider Foundation is calling for an end to offshore gas expansion in the Otway Basin and along the Great Ocean Road. We’re calling for better management and regulation of the gas industry, and for governments in Australia to focus on cleaner, renewable energy. The greatest threat to our oceans remains climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels.

“Our community values whales and marine life. The local tourism industry along the Great Ocean Road relies on a pristine marine and coastal environment full of life to attract visitors to our region. It makes no sense to continue this barbaric practice. The threats to whales and other marine life in the Otway Basin are too great,” Surfrider Foundation Surf Coast president John Fross said.

“The ocean needs your help, we need to stop the industrialisation and exploitation of the Otway Basin and Great Southern Ocean. Join us in the protection of our amazing ocean, coast and beaches.’ Surfrider Foundation Australia National Campaign Drew McPherson said.

At the coming federal election, please vote for the coast

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