The Australian state of Victoria has banned fracking forever, enshrining the ban in its constitution, the state government said in a March 4 statement. There has been a ban on fracking since 2017. 

“We’ve listened to our rural communities who have told us they do not want the unacceptable risks that fracking brings that could impact our farming and tourism sectors,” minister for resources Jaclyn Symes said. 

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The government, however, stated that the restart of the onshore conventional gas sector is on track for July this year. The government lifted the moratorium on onshore gas exploration last year. “This restart follows three years of detailed scientific investigations by the Victorian Gas Program (VGP), which found an onshore conventional gas industry would not compromise the environment or our vital agricultural sector,” it said. 

South-west Victoria and Gippsland are the main regions set to benefit, where geoscience studies have located potentially significant onshore conventional gas resources, the government added. The southern states of Australia are heading for a gas shortage by the mid decade, according to the Australian Consumer & Competition Commission mid-February.