This is a huge result for the coastal communities, indigenous traditional owners, surfers, seafood industry, tourism operators, local businesses and individuals who have persistently campaigned to protect this ocean environment for years.
Our own coworking community could not be more thrilled with this news, having grabbed our boards and taken part in Byron’s paddle out protest last year. We hope that this sends a message to the Australian government and other large corporations that we are prepared to defend our land and oceans should they come under threat.
Stretching for nearly 3800 kilometres, the Great Australian Bight has been in the sights of global oil predators for quite some time, with giants like BP (who abandoned their plans in 2016) and Chevron battling for exploratory drilling in this region.
This giant oceanic bay is a marine haven for whales, fish, birds, marine mammals and plants life, with around 85% of the species inhabiting its waters found nowhere else on Earth.
Unfortunately, it is also considered as one of Australia’s ‘largest untapped oil reserves’.
Equinor, a Norwegian energy giant was granted environment approval for its controversial bid to drill to explore for oil in December last year.
With huge risks of catastrophic oil spills and marine disasters at force, only made more likely with the Bight’s extreme weather conditions, any devastating impacts could reach from Perth to the NSW south coast, and as far away as Tasmania. This is where our strong Aussie community kicked in.
Aside from the direct risks involved, it goes without saying that in this modern-day with the knowledge and resources we now have, extracting fossil fuels as a means of energy is kind of absurd.
Now is the time to be cutting pollution, moving to net-zero emissions, and looking for ways to support sustainable initiatives, not funding these corporations.
You can learn more about the Great Australian Bight and continue to lend your support here.
