Gas exploration: Frack up north, Mallee MP says

GAS in the Northern Territory should be developed before Victorian reserves, Mallee MP Andrew Broad says.

GAS in the Northern Territory should be developed before Victorian reserves, Mallee MP Andrew Broad says.

“I think there is opportunity to develop the Northern Territory first,” Mr Broad said.

Andrew Broad.

“We’ve got high-value agricultural soils in Victoria (and) there’s an ongoing community discussion about gas there.”

The Nationals MP, who is chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on energy, said concerns about gas development — such as the effect on aquifers — were “not such an issue” in the Territory.

The NT has a moratorium on fracking while an inquiry into the technique, which was recently banned in Victoria, takes place.

Origin Energy estimated NT’s Beetaloo Basin could hold 6.6 trillion cubic feet in contingent shale gas.

Meanwhile, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Associ­ation argues a second gas pipeline connecting South Australia to the Northern Territory, needed to secure SA energy supplies, is not feasible without fracking.

But Friends of the Earth said it should be banned.

“Fracking is not supported here in Victoria, so it’s cheeky to push a problem on to rural communities in another part of the country,” FoE spokesman Cam Walker said.

Meanwhile, the Gippsland, Otway, Bass and Sorell basins will be the focus of a new federal study of southeast Australia’s offshore gas supply.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan announced the study as part of $90 million to develop gas supplies. This is expected to complement the offshore component of a $42 million Victorian study of that state’s gas reserves.

Victoria had wanted the Federal Government to partner in its study, but the Commonwealth has refused support for the onshore aspect because of a state-imposed moratorium on conventional onshore gas until 2020.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, who will next month meet state ministers, at the weekend criticised states for “mindless moratoriums” contributing to rising power prices.