Queensland residents draw to the attention of the House, the unacceptable risks associated with gas fracking in the Channel Country of Queensland - the flood plains of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin.

The Queensland Labor party has a long standing commitment to review current legislation to ensure protection of the Channel Country. 

Since Labor was elected in 2015, gas companies have been granted advanced exploration (PCA) over at least 348,066 hectares of Channel Country floodplains - which are mapped under the Qld Regional Planning Interests Act as Strategic Environmental Areas.

In June 2020 Origin Energy applied for production leases over 225,000 ha of Channel Country floodplains. 

Sir David Attenborough states, “If we continue on our current path, we will face the collapse of everything that gives us our security: food production, access to fresh water, habitable temperature, and ocean food chains, and if the natural world can no longer support the most basic of our needs, then much of the rest of civilization will quickly break down”.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to legislate: 

• To respect advice of the independent scientific panel commissioned by the Queensland government which recommended a ban on petroleum/gas activities, and associated infrastructure in and around the environmentally sensitive flood plains.  
• Reject Origin’s PL applications and place an urgent prohibition on any development of petroleum/gas activities, ensuring the future security of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin.