Onshore gas drilling to resume as Victoria scraps years-long ban

Drilling for gas reserves underground will once again be allowed across Victoria as the state moves to lift its years-long moratorium on conventional onshore gas exploration.

A moratorium on onshore gas exploration in Victoria will be lifted. 

Surprising many, as a decision was not required to be made for another three months, the Andrews government unveiled legislation allowing an "orderly restart" of conventional gas exploration and development onshore from July 1, 2021.

Oil and gas producers, unions and heavy gas-users such as manufacturers have been calling for the years-long moratorium to be abolished, but environment groups have railed against the possibility arguing it will drive up greenhouse gas emissions and threaten state ecosystems.

Read the story from The Age by Benjamin Preiss, Nick Toscano and Miki Perkins - “Onshore gas drilling to resume as Victoria scraps years-long ban.”

(This is a tragedy for those of us concerned about Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions as “onshore gas” means fracking and while that means many things, it is fundamentally about removing a fossil fuel from where it presently safely resides and letting it loose into our atmosphere, something we simply should not be doing - Robert McLean)