Anti-fracking protesters to take on government in court battle

EXCLUSIVE: TWO anti-fracking activists are set to take on the Northern Territory government in court after they were charged for drilling holes in the lawns outside Parliament House to protest fracking

A group of Traditional Owners, Elders and community members from Borroloola protested fracking by drilling a hole in the lawn outside Parliament last year. Picture: Supplied

• Anti-fracking protesters rally outside Minister Eva Lawler’s office
• Alice Springs protesters denounce fracking outside Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s event

TWO anti-fracking activists are set to take on the Northern Territory government in court after they were charged for drilling holes in the lawns outside Parliament House to protest fracking in the Barkly and Gulf regions last year.

MORE COURT NEWS

Inquest lays bare tragic petrol sniffing deaths of three children

Former cop pleads guilty to cannabis possession

NT’s new specialised domestic violence court opens

Lauren Mellor, 36, and Conrad Rory, 34, will plead not guilty in a two-day hearing in the Darwin Local Court on Monday to joint charges of criminal damage over a protest involving a bobcat and a “mock fracking operation” outside the NT parliament last April.

The pair’s defence lawyer, John Lawrence SC, said he would argue his clients’ actions were justified as they were defending their land and water from potential destruction by fracking.

Defendants Lauren Mellor and Conrad Rory are being charged over the protest action. Picture: Supplied

“These are actions taken by people of principle who are genuinely concerned about the destructive effects that fracking poses to land, water and future generations of Australians,” Mr Lawrence said.

“The outcome of this case has important ramifications for the future protection of land, water and our climate.”

The defendants were charged last July after they protested alongside several elders and traditional owners from the regions surrounding the Beetaloo and McArthur gas basins on April 16.

LIMITED TIME: New NT News subscription offer: $1 a week for the first 12 weeks

A video of the protest posted to Facebook shows Rory driving a bobcat on to the front lawns of Parliament House in the early hours of the morning and drilling a hole into the ground.

Rory said the charges had not deterred him from continuing to protest fracking.

“How is it that protecting water from fracking makes me a criminal, yet fracking companies contaminating water is considered legal by this government?” he said.

“If the NT government is too gutless to stand up for the rights of our communities and our climate, then they better be prepared for more actions like ours because we will not stop standing up for our future until fracking is banned across the NT.”

Follow @MsSarahMatthews