#GroundwaterConcerns

[newsbites]

News from Australia, 9 July

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney has signalled the four key priorities for the Voice to parliament she outlined will not be enshrined in legislation and will be “based on trust” instead.

2. Protesters in Darwin are attempting to prevent the movement of a powerful on-shore drilling rig to the Beetaloo Basin, highlighting concerns about the environmental impact of fracking.

The Beetaloo Basin is a highly energy resource-rich area, with an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of gas, but the use of shale fracking in the region is yet to be trialled.

Despite the recent lifting of a five-year moratorium on fracking in the Northern Territory, environmental, Indigenous, and farming groups remain worried about the potential consequences, particularly on groundwater reserves.

3. Conservation groups and traditional owner groups have reintroduced the eastern quoll, a previously-extinct marsupial, to western Victoria. The marsupial, which is only found in the wild in Tasmania, became extinct on the Australian mainland in the 1960s.

Scientists released seven quolls onto a sheep station in Dundonnell last year and dozens more have been reintroduced to regional NSW. This week, the Eastern Maar people helped bring another 12 quolls to the area. The reintroduction process took place during NAIDOC week, a time to recognize the significance of First Nations people and cultures. The hope is that this project will lead to the survival of the quoll on the mainland.