Australia has increased tax concessions to encourage oil exploration in the far reaches of the Great Barrier Reef, angering environmentalists who warn an oil spill could destroy the world's largest living reef system.
The Australian government says the new concessions are needed to encourage oil companies to explore remote sections of the reef if Australia is to secure future energy supplies.
"If there was a bad accident or a spill we'd have a massive oil spill washing up on the outer barrier reef within no time at all," Don Henry, executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said yesterday.
"In our point of view, that's just totally unacceptable and the government should not be encouraging exploration."
The world-heritage listed Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,000km north to south along Australia's northeast coast and attracts nearly 2 million tourists a year.
Environmental groups warn an oil spill on the reef, unlike the Exxon Valdez leak in Alaska in 1989, could not be cleaned up or washed away because the oil would permeate the living coral.
"It's not like rocks. You can't walk around on it and sponge it up and soak it up. Once it's into that porous structure, that reef will be contaminated for decades," said James McLellan, coordinator for the Northern Queensland Conservation Council.
Prime Minister John Howard last week released a major energy policy, "Securing Australia's Energy Future," which identified four oil basins on the outer edge of the reef for exploration.
"Encouraging further exploration in these areas is in Australia's interest and is a high priority for government," the report said.
The change hikes the tax concessions to 150 percent from 100 percent.
"Let me make it quite clear to exploration companies and the Australian community that the government will not allow any field development that would impact on the reef systems off the Queensland coast," said Peter Lindsay, a minister for parliament whose electorate borders the reef.
Australia's current offshore oil production is centred off its southern and northwest coasts, but the Great Barrier Reef has long been identified as potentially holding vast reserves of oil.
Previous administrations have discouraged oil exploration near the reef for fear of an ecological disaster.
Oil companies, for their part, have been reluctant to explore because of the technical challenges of drilling in the region's deep water.
In 2001, Norwegian company TGS Nopek abandoned plans to drill on the Townsville trough amidst protests from environmental groups and smaller political parties.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS