Cattle station win in fracking stoush with gas company ‘would lead to absurd consequences’, court hears

Overturning a ruling in favour of a cattle station owner opposed to a gas company conducting fracking activities on its land would ‘lead to rather absurd consequences’, a court has heard.

UPDATE TUESDAY: OVERTURNING a ruling in favour of a cattle station owner opposed to a gas company conducting fracking activities on its land would “lead to rather absurd consequences”, a court has heard.

Tanumbirini Station owner, Rallen Australia, is appealing an NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruling approving access to its leasehold for Sweetpea Petroleum to explore for onshore gas.

On Tuesday, the petrochemical company’s lawyer, Garry Rich SC, told the Supreme Court the law “presumes or accepts that exploration operations and activities shall be conducted” within its permit area, as long as they don’t unreasonably interfere with Tanumbirini’s business.

“It cannot be, in our respectful submission, that (the legislation) means that the permittee shall carry out its exploration operations and activities in a way that is practically impossible or impracticable,” he said.

“It cannot mean, for example, that a permittee shall carry out seismic surveys without bringing trucks, people, or equipment onto the permit area, or without clearing any vegetation, or without building an access road.”

Mr Rich said the station owner’s rights had “already been interfered with by parliament and by the minister’s decision to grant an exploration permit over the occupier’s land”.

“In other words, it obliges the permittee to ensure that its activities are performed in a particular way,” he said.

“Namely, that they do not impede or intrude upon others’ rights or activities any more than is necessary to exercise the rights that have already been conferred upon the permittee under this act.”

Mr Rich said if the court were to interpret the law differently, it would mean Sweetpea staff would be barred from “driving or even walking on an existing track, merely to obtain access to an area where the exploration operations are to be performed”.

“That construction does lead to rather absurd consequences,” he said.

“If this applies to access, there’s a legislative prohibition against driving or even walking, it would seem, within 50m of a residence, or of an orchard, or of a cultivated field on the way to where the exploration activities are to be performed.

“There is a prohibition against driving a truck, on this construction, within 200m of a cemetery.

“There’d be a prohibition against driving through a gate if there was a tap next to the gate, so the question really is, whether that is likely to have been parliament’s intention.”

EARLIER: A TOP End cattle station owner has taken its fight to stop a gas company from conducting fracking activities on its land to the Supreme Court, arguing it will have a “significant adverse impact” on its business.

Tanumbirini Station owner, Rallen Australia, is appealing a decision of the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal upholding Sweetpea Petroleum’s access agreement, allowing it to conduct fracking exploration work on the land against the station owner’s wishes.

In court on Monday, Rallen’s barrister, Noel Hutley SC, said the access agreement should never have been granted in the terms that it was because it interfered with the station owner’s “lawful rights and activities”.

“The prima facie position is that an exploration licence is to be conducted in relation to the permit area in such a way as to not interfere with the lawful rights and activities of any other person,” he said.

“We say the tribunal impermissibly glossed that and said that is subject to any, what they call inevitable or necessary interference, we say that was, with respect, wrong.”

In a statement, Rallen director, Luciana Ravazzotti, said by allowing fracking companies to access land without station owners’ permission the government had “allowed the fracking industry to ride roughshod over our rights”.

“We are looking to the legal system to secure fair treatment because the government has given (Sweetpea’s owner) Tamboran (Resources) the upper hand in negotiations,” she said.

“The cattle industry in the Northern Territory is facing an unprecedented challenge from fracking which risks contaminating and depleting precious water sources and damaging the country all Territorians value.

“We’ve had three years of Santos, Origin and Tamboran on our station and we’re seeing that if the full development occurs into production that fracking and cattle don’t mix.

“The government is doing nothing to ensure companies comply with regulation.”

Rallen Australia director Pierre Langenhoven outside court. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Fellow director Pierre Langenhoven said in backing the controversial industry, the Territory government “risks wrecking the NT’s water and the cattle industry, which has long been the economic backbone of the NT”.

Mr Langenhoven said Sweetpea Petroleum had been “flagrantly disrespectful of us”.

“Its operations are already causing havoc,” he said.

“They have cut our fences, bulldozed access routes and flouted their own plans for protecting our stock and managing weeds.”

Tamboran Resources chief executive, Joel Riddle, said the company had “secured all necessary approvals and is continuing with the proposed works fully approved under the terms of the agreement”.

Mr Riddle said as a pastoral lease holder, Rallen had no right to block lawful exploration activities approved under the land access agreement.

“However, we respect the rights of Rallen, and its foreign owners, to run cattle on its pastoral lease in accordance with the specific rights afforded to it under NT law,” he said.

“Rallen’s purchase of pastoral leases took place after the gas moratorium in the NT was lifted, knowing full well of the NT government’s desire to develop the Beetaloo Basin, which is projected to deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in royalties to the benefit of Territorians.”

Mr Riddle said Tamboran had been “working closely with all stakeholders, including pastoral leaseholders and traditional owners through the Northern Land Council”.

“Pastoral lease and exploration lease holders are granted overlapping tenures by the Northern Territory,” he said.

“These lease holders have come to agreements across the NT and Australia successfully over many decades to manage their dual rights over public land and will continue to do so to the mutual benefit of industry, traditional owners and the environment.

“Tamboran notes and respects the ongoing appeal in the NT Supreme Court and will refrain from commenting further throughout proceedings.”

A spokeswoman for Mining Minister Nicole Manison said it “not appropriate for government to comment” while the case was before the court.

“NTCAT has recently determined this land access agreement between a petroleum interest holder and pastoral lease holder, in accordance with the NT Regulations,” she said.

The hearing continues.