Ningaloo must not be industrialised

CAMPAIGN COMPLETE

Oil and gas ramping up the pressure on Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf: Our chance to comment.

Any doubts about the oil and gas industry’s intentions to expand rapidly into the Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf area have been erased with startling new developments.

We’ve been raising the alarm about the massive Subsea 7 pipeline fabrication facility proposed for a beautiful, undeveloped part of Exmouth Gulf which threatens to open ‘Ningaloo’s Nursery’ to heavy industry.

Now, the Federal Government has revealed plans to exploit huge areas for oil and gas development along the Ningaloo World Heritage area. Coral Bay, Gnaraloo, Quobba-Red Bluff – all these iconic places would be at risk of rig blowouts and oil spills. That would be catastrophic. For nature. For jobs and local economies. For the whole community.

Think it can’t happen here? A rig blowout a few years ago spewed millions of litres of oil off the Kimberley coast just to the north.

Oil and gas rigs would be allowed as close as the Rottnest swim distance from the Ningaloo World Heritage area!

Migrating whales and turtles, and resident dolphins and fish, would all be subjected to years of intensive underwater sonic explosions during seismic exploration.

It’s time for us to tell our leaders: Enough is enough. Help us convince governments to draw a line in the sand. Ningaloo must not be industrialised!

Please add your name to this short letter to the Federal Ministers for Resources and the Environment imploring them to stand up for Ningaloo. We will also submit the letter to the public consultation process, where we are calling for the Government to halt the release of areas nominated for oil and gas development off Ningaloo. Please visit the Department’s site if you would like to provide your own additional comments. In addition, we will make the relevant WA Government Ministers aware of the community’s concerns.

While our campaign focus is on Ningaloo, this new acreage would also impact other highly important reefs and habitat for many threatened species off WA including in the Shark Bay World Heritage area, the Abrolhos Islands and the Kimberley.

Image credit: Alex Kydd