Labor welcomes the Morrison-Joyce Government’s belated intension to reject the proposed extension of Advent Energy’s Petroleum Exploration Permit 11 (PEP-11).
This is a decision that is more than 300 days overdue and could have been made quickly in February with a stroke of a pen by Scott Morrison’s Minister for Resources, Keith Pitt who had the final decision on the future of the licence.
Extending PEP-11 has never made sense from an economic, environmental, or energy perspective.
It would have put at risk thousands of local jobs in tourism, hospitality, and recreational and commercial fishing.
Let’s be clear: the Morrison-Joyce Government has left our community in limbo and ignored our wishes for nearly 12 months despite the overwhelming opposition to PEP-11.
Scott Morrison doesn’t care about our community, otherwise he would not have inflicted this uncertainty on us for so long.
This is a Prime Minister whose priorities are his Liberal mates and making announcements that suit his short-term political prospects.
He has surrendered to the massive campaign ran by the community and Labor to stop this awful project.
Actions speak louder than words.
Mr Morrison has been saying he doesn’t approve the PEP-11 extension since March, so Labor looks forward to the official confirmation that it has been rejected once and for all.
This is a huge win for our community, and they deserve to be congratulated and recognised for their advocacy.