The Fracking Inquiry Draft Final Report shows this couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s now very clear that current laws and fracking operations fail to protect the Territory from harm. Justice Pepper calls for the full implementation of 120 necessary recommendations to deal with the 115 risks the panel has identified.

Gas companies would need to pay for the huge volumes of water they use. Three years of baseline water studies and baseline health assessments are needed. Plus, the gas industry will have to pay for the new regulatory system and compliance. Improvements to our weak laws are welcome. Communities are already dealing with consequences of the NT’s lax approach to regulation. Tourism, fishing, farming and pastoral industries have been compromised by polluting legacy mines.

Successive governments have lacked both the capacity and willingness to ensure the resource sector operates within the law.

■ RELATED: FRACKING THE TERRITORY’S FRACTURED DEBATE

■ RELATED: FRACKING: NORTHERN LAND COUNCIL CHIEF EXECUTIVE TALKS

■ RELATED: FRACKING: WHAT THE GAS INDUSTRY HAS TO SAY

■ RELATED: FRACKING: NT OPPOSITION LEADER GARY HIGGINS TALKS

The PFAS disaster now afflicting many regional areas is further evidence that governments can’t be trusted to deal with contaminants in our environment.

Yet the problem with fracking gas fields is not just the myriad of risks it brings. The known, and unavoidable impacts of this invasive industry causes continued concern.

Gas field development requires an extensive network of wells, processing plants, pipelines, access tracks and waste water storage. Landholders still lack the right so say ‘no thanks’ to industry forcing its way on to build a gas field.

The overwhelming and resounding message we’re hearing from Territorians is they do not trust the fracking industry to manage the risks to land, water and human health. The fracking industry can’t and won’t be safely regulated, and a ban remains the safest option.

If a guarantee onshore gas fracking won’t contaminate the Territory’s water is too much to ask for — will the fracking industry at least guarantee they will put in place all 120 recommendations?