Surfers join MPs, environmentalists opposing One Nation’s call on PEP-11 project

Resumen detallado

Surfers are opposing One Nation’s plan to back a gas scheme stretching from Sydney to Newcastle.

Surfers have joined a chorus of local leaders and environmentalists opposing plans by One Nation in NSW to back a massive gas scheme, stretching from northern Sydney to Newcastle.

NSW One Nation leader Mike Newman on Friday revealed the party would not “stand in the way” of the PEP-11 project off the NSW Hunter coast if “commercial parties can find a way to make (the project) work”.

Mr Newman told The Australian the party was “pro-fossil fuel” and “pro-technologies that will reduce the price of energy”.

The former NSW trade commissioner to Japan said One Nation would also overturn a state ban on offshore gas exploration – PEP-11 is not, however, covered by the 2024 laws.

In a statement, Surfers for Climate said surfers, fishers, and their families had spent years fighting oil and gas projects along NSW’s coastline, from Newcastle to Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Chief executive Josh Kirkman said backing PEP-11 would drag those communities “back into a fight they’ve already one”.

“Ask anyone who surfs, fishes, or just walks their dog along the beaches between Newcastle and Manly whether they want gas rigs off their beach. The answer hasn’t changed,” Mr Kirkman said.

“These communities spent years getting PEP-11 off the table, and they won. Now One Nation wants to make them fight it all over again? Madness.”

The PEP-11 project, led by Australian-based Asset Energy and Bounty Oil and Gas, was initially scuttled by former prime minister Scott Morrison in 2021.

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