Image: Jordan Ellis
Six councils across South Australia’s Limestone Coast have joined community leaders, farmers, businesses and environmental groups in a united push for a permanent ban on fracking in the region.
An open letter was delivered to State Parliament today, calling on MPs to reject the State Government’s move to prematurely end the Limestone Coast’s existing 10-year moratorium on hydraulic fracture stimulation, commonly known as fracking.
The moratorium was introduced in 2018 and is currently due to remain in place until November 2028.
The State Government announced earlier this year that it would introduce legislation to remove the moratorium before its expiry, arguing the change would allow potential future gas resources in the South East to be considered amid concerns about Australia’s future domestic gas supply.
The Government has stressed the move would not itself approve fracking in the region, with any future proposal still required to undergo environmental assessment, public consultation and regulatory approval.
But opposition across the Limestone Coast has continued to grow.
The open letter has been backed by six councils — the City of Mount Gambier, Southern Limestone Coast Council, Naracoorte Lucindale Council, District Council of Robe, Wattle Range Council and Tatiara District Council — alongside the Limestone Coast Local Government Association.
Wine and agricultural businesses and organisations have also added their names, including the Mount Gambier Regional Winegrowers Association, Limestone Coast Grape and Wine Council and Mount Benson Estate.
Limestone Coast Protection Alliance Chair Angus Ralton said the region had already fought for protection from fracking eight years ago.
“Eight years ago, Limestone Coast residents stood together to protect our region from fracking. We won a hard-fought 10-year moratorium because the science, the economics and the community were clear,” Mr Ralton said.
“Now the Malinauskas Labor Government is seeking to overturn that protection years before it expires, without consulting the community that would bear the consequences.”
Mr Ralton said the region’s agriculture, food and wine, forestry, fisheries and tourism industries relied heavily on its groundwater, soils and environmental reputation.
“Only a permanent ban on fracking will protect the Limestone Coast now, and for future generations,” he said.
Mount Gambier’s opposition to the proposed change has already been formally recorded, with the City of Mount Gambier voting in June to reaffirm its opposition to unconventional gas exploration and call on the State Government to extend the ban indefinitely.
The wider campaign’s open letter argues the region’s economic importance makes protecting its natural resources critical, describing the Limestone Coast as South Australia’s “food bowl”.
It calls on Parliament to abandon the Energy Resources (Regulated Activities) Amendment Bill and instead legislate a permanent ban on fracking across the Limestone Coast.
Young people and First Nations representatives were also part of the delegation to Parliament, including Boandik woman, educator and Voice to Parliament member Lisa Rigney and Mount Gambier local Jazmin Bingham.
Ms Bingham said decisions made now would have consequences well beyond the current generation.
“Are we willing to risk the future of young people who have no say in the decisions being made here, but who will be forced to live with the consequences?” she said.
“Because young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow — we are here now.”
The State Government maintains that removing the moratorium would simply allow any future proposals to be assessed rather than automatically prohibited.
According to the Department for Energy and Mining, proposals would be subject to environmental assessment, mandatory public consultation and formal regulatory approval, and would need to demonstrate that groundwater and water-dependent ecosystems could be protected.
The Government has also pointed to research and experience elsewhere in South Australia which it says shows hydraulic fracture stimulation in deep geological formations can be managed under appropriate regulation.
For those behind the Limestone Coast campaign, however, the message to Parliament is that the current temporary protection should not only remain — it should become permanent.
The full open letter and list of supporters can be viewed through the Protect Limestone Coast campaign here.
