Permanent Ban on Fracking in Tasmania

Tasmanian citizens draw to the attention of the House the importance of preserving and improving the health and wellbeing of our community and environment. Additionally, we recognise the benefits of fostering the Tasmanian brand by strengthening the clean green image underpinning many high-end markets for our agriculture and tourism industries. We note with grave concern exploration licences for petroleum products, including shale and tight gas, cover approximately one quarter of Tasmania's total landmass, most of this area is farmland posing a significant risk to food security. The current moratorium on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), which is required to release gas deposits, ends in March 2015. Fracking and the associated infrastructure threaten our present circumstances and potential future enhancements by: • Using vast quantities of water, a limited and valuable resource needed for agriculture; • The very high risk of permanently contaminating groundwater and surface waterways with chemicals used in fracking fluid and from metals, radioactive material and salts leached out of the geology; • Polluting the air with emissions from flaring wells, compressor stations and intensive heavy vehicle traffic affecting local residents; • Arousing community division between opponents and supporters; • Distorting property values and discouraging agricultural investment in fracking areas; and • Failures in the technology, such as the cracking of cement and steel used to case wells, leaking methane gas and toxic contaminants into the air and aquifers. Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to extend the current moratorium and also legislate a permanent prohibition on exploration and/or extraction licences for mining operations, involving fracking.