Dear Dr Hawke,
I am sending this e-mail to express my interest
in the process of dealing with the imminent imposition of shale gas
extraction throughout the NT. As well as all the valid points made on
the pro forma letter below with which I am sure you are familiar, I
would like to add my personal input.
I have grave concerns that fracking is being forced upon a
community and country in which there is very little understanding or
awareness of the process and its impact.
There is no doubt in my mind, after having seen films read
documents and papers and generally looked for information regarding the
whole process that the process is exceedingly harmful to people and
the wider environment and that the short term financial gains cannot
possibly justify the long term detrimental effects.
Even if the process was deemed 100% safe and reliable, I
would hate to see the destruction brought about from more
infrastructure , noise and light pollution, increased traffic,
pipelines and so on wreaking havoc on the communities and landscape.
Only a blind fool could fail to see the awful destruction
that these gas fields cause, I fear that more studies and
investigations will go unheeded by government,and the corporate greed
for profit take precedence over common sense.
The secrecy and lack of transparency behind the whole
process speaks for itself, I have just become a citizen of Australia
and taken a pledge and been tested on the the system of government in
the country, I hope that the democratic process can be effective and
that the people who live in the country really can be involved in the
decision making process.
in order for this to occur there needs to be an awareness of
the process, people need to see the plans, see the rules see the
guidelines or lack of them, see the disparity between the freeholders
rights and the mining rights. I have spoken to many who have no idea
what is going on! and probably will not until they have to buy water
from trucks, leave their property due to contamination from the air or
water or noise or lights or trucks and dust etc etc .
Will the enquiry address this issue of public information?
Will the enquiry address the issue of the mining lobby and
corporate business having so much clout and funding as to be able to
disseminate their own propaganda more effectively than any one else.?
Will the enquiry look at the TPP and other trade agreements
to see how they may erode any local or national opposition or
legislation in favour of corporate 'rights'?
Will the enquiry investigate any vested interests of those
in public office who might benefit personally from encouraging and
supporting the petroleum industry?
Will the enquiry make any comparisons between the costs,
efficiency ,safety and pollution generation of different modes of
energy production?
These are some of my concerns and interests I will add my name to the the list of concerns below also.
I am very concerned for this environment it is probably one
of the last pristine areas of the country, indeed the world, it is
thankfully sparsely populated, but this in turn leads to its own risk
in that there are vast areas that can be destroyed without anyone being
any the wiser...... until the aquifers are polluted or there is so
much water used that the ecological balance is totally upset.
I hope that this submission will add other dimensions to the enquiry.
Yours Sincerely
Philip Warsop