Western Australia’s 2nd Frack Inquiry 'A Waste of Time': APPEA

Australian upstream oil and gas industry body, APPEA, believes Western Australia’s second inquiry into hydraulic fracturing or fracking in less than two years “is a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.”

An inquiry by the WA Legislative Council’s Environment and Public Affairs Committee had already found that fracking posed negligible risk, said APPEA's CEO for Western Australia, Stedman Ellis, September 5.

The Western Australian government September 5 implemented a ban on fracking on existing and future onshore petroleum titles in the South-West, Peel and Perth metropolitan regions while a moratorium has also been placed on the use of fracking throughout the rest of the state. The government also ordered an independent scientific inquiry in fracking, chaired by Environmental Protection Authority chairperson Tom Hatton

“WA does not need another fracking inquiry. What it desperately needs is new jobs, investment and royalties to help repair the state budget,” Ellis said adding that more than A$380mn [US$303mn] worth of investment in new onshore gas projects had stalled since Labor imposed a moratorium on fracking. “The facts clearly show that fracking is safe.  

So it’s likely this inquiry, like all the others before it, will conclude that any risks can be managed with proper regulation, Ellis said.

“It is vital, therefore, that this new inquiry report back to the government as quickly as possible and that it results in the removal of the fracking moratorium. A safe and sustainable onshore gas industry has the potential to provide jobs and investment in regional communities, royalties for the budget and a new source of energy for our state.”

Western Australia joins Victoria, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Tasmania in restricting fracking.

Shardul Sharma