No industry is completely without risk, and the development of any onshore shale gas industry in the NT is no exception. But having considered the latest and best-available scientific data from a wide range of sources, and noting the recent and continuing technological improvements in the extraction of onshore shale gas, the conclusion of this Inquiry is that the challenges and risks associated with any onshore shale gas industry in the NT can be appropriately managed by, among other things: • releasing land that is environmentally, socially and culturally appropriate for use for shale gas development; • mandating world-leading engineering standards for the construction, maintenance and de-commissioning of all onshore shale gas wells and for the extraction of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing; • implementing new technologies where relevant as soon as they become available; • requiring the comprehensive monitoring and reporting of all aspects of onshore shale gas operations with real-time public scrutiny of the resulting data; • implementing area (regional) based approval processes; • the completion of a SREBA before production to gather essential baseline data prior to any onshore shale gas industry being developed; • insisting on a standalone comprehensive SIA for each onshore shale gas project; • ensuring that traditional Aboriginal owners and Aboriginal communities are properly and comprehensively consulted about all aspects (positive and negative) of any onshore shale gas project on or affecting their country; • ensuring that the regulator is truly independent and that laws protecting the environment are properly enforced with sufficiently stringent sanctions for non-compliance; • ensuring greater access to justice; • reforming the current regulatory framework governing onshore shale gas development in the NT to strengthen transparency and accountability of all decision-making; • introducing full fee recovery to fund the necessary regulatory reforms and to ensure that strong oversight is maintained; and • ensuring that all of the recommendations contained in this Report are implemented in full.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed. And with any new industry, it is not uncommon for problems to emerge. However, it is the Panel’s opinion that, provided that all of the recommendations made in this Report are adopted and implemented in their entirety, not only should the risks associated with an onshore shale gas industry be minimised to an acceptable level, in some instances, they can be avoided altogether. In short, the Panel is of the opinion that with the full enactment and implementation of the robust and rigorously enforced safeguards recommended in this Report, the waters shall continue to flow “clear and cold out of the hills” 6 and the “dawn chorus of ” Magpie Geese, Brolgas, Budgerigars, Black Kites, Blue-winged Kookaburras.
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