In short:
After proposing new protections for the Channel Country in 2023, the Queensland government has banned new gas exploration.
The news has been welcomed, with one pastoralist in the Channel Country saying it’s a positive step forward.
What’s next:
The ban doesn’t apply to existing licences or open-cut mining for critical minerals
It has taken 10 years, but a promised ban on new fracking projects in Queensland’s Channel Country has finally become official.
The ban on new gas exploration in the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin came into effect at the start of August, after the state government made amendments to the Regional Planning Interest Regulation Act 2014.
It bans “petroleum resource activity” in Channel Country strategic environmental area, ensuring no new unconventional gas and oil extraction — known as fracking – can be developed.
The move has been welcomed by traditional owners and farmers, but the energy industry said it threatens future gas supply.
Striking the balance
Wangkanguru Yarluyandi woman Karen Monaghan said it was overwhelming to hear the regulations were in place.
“I’m more than happy to hear the news,” Ms Monaghan said.
“I’ve waited a long time.”
She said it was a relief to know that her home country would be protected from gas exploration into the future.
“This is the ultimate outcome,” she said.
“It has been wonderful to see how different communities have all come together for one common cause.”
However, the changes do not apply to mining leases that existed on or before December 22, 2023 when the changes were announced, or open cut mining leases for critical minerals.
A modern step forward
Dalene Wray, managing director of OBE Organic, which sources organic cattle from the Channel Country, said the new regulations reflected a modern resources industry while also protecting nationally significant land and waterways.
“The Lake Eyre Basin is one of the most unique river systems in the world,” Ms Wray said.
“It does need extra protections and that’s what the government has done.
“They’ve brought in protections that are fit for resource activity in 2024.”
Traditional owners, graziers and residents of the Channel Country have been calling for greater protections for the area since the Newman government scrapped protection laws in 2013.
Ms Wray said it had been a thorough consultation process.
“Whilst it has taken a bit longer than we would have liked, they have listened to all parts of the community,” she said.
“From the resources industry, to graziers, traditional owners, they’ve taken all the information on board.”
However, Australian Energy Producers, the peak body representing oil and gas explorers, developers and producers oppose the ban.
When announced, Queensland director Keld Knudsen said it would risk jobs and future revenue of outback local governments.
“The economic consequences … could be devastating for the south-west in coming years,” he said.
“Councils which rely on the gas industry could see huge parts of their budgets wiped out.”
He said preventing the development of new gas fields would restrict future gas supply.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Department of Resources says the measures “strike and important balance” between protecting the rivers and floodplains of the Lake Eyre Basin while providing certainty for existing conventional gas projects.
“The Queensland government has long held the position that it supports resource projects, as long as they stack up financially, environmentally and socially,” he said.
“This position has not changed.”
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