Geelong protests against seismic testing
Written by: Duncan B. on 18 August 2021
Geelong’s waterfront has been a busy place for protests lately. On Sunday August 15th more than 40 protesters staged a protest at the gates of the port at Corio Quay, or paddled their surfboards in Corio Bay. They are members of an environmental group OCEAN---the Otway Climate Emergency Action Network.
They were seeking to disrupt the loading of the seismic survey ship Geo Coral. The ship was due to leave Geelong, bound for the Otway Basin west of King Island to conduct seismic blasting in a search for oil in the area. Recently the Federal Government gave the go-ahead for oil exploration in the Otway Basin, as close as 5 km from the Twelve Apostles.
Seismic blasting involves releasing 259-decibel blasts from the rear of the ship to determine gas and oil deposits deep below the ocean floor. The blasts kill, damage and disturb marine creatures including whales. One protester, who is a rock lobster fisherman at Apollo Bay, said he had seen at first-hand that seismic testing was decimating the marine life in his fishing grounds off Apollo Bay. He said, “Over the last year or so, fishing has been in strong decline, the ships just go there and blast away and don’t care what they wipe out.”
An OCEAN spokesperson said, “If we are to limit global warming and for our planet to be a safe place for our children to live, we must leave fossil fuels under the ground.”
On Wednesday 18th of August OCEAN members returned to the port in the early hours of the morning for another protest. Two intrepid people actually boarded the Geo Coral and attached themselves to the ship. They were able to delay its departure until police could forcibly remove them. The two will be charged on summons with trespassing and will appear in court at a later date. They have been threatened with severe penalties under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003.
Print Version - new window Email article
-----
Go back
Independence from Imperialism
People's Rights & Liberties
Community and Environment
Marxism Today
International
Articles
The housing problem in Australia: caused by capitalism and capitalist social relations (reprint) |
Did capitalist corner-cutting kill the Thylacine? |
Will AUKUS turn us into the world’s nuclear waste dump? |
For a United Front against Fossil Fuels and Feral Species |
Capitalist interference disrupts Australian science |
First Nations People Lead The Way In September |
70th anniversary of Emu Field A-Bomb tests approaches |
Capitalism’s destructive war on nature causing ongoing extreme weather events. |
University protests: welfare not warfare! |
Greece is on fire and the system of profit is responsible. |
Kimba nuclear dump decision – tears of joy. |
Corporatisation of Universities Exposed |
Copper mining (the new gold rush) should be publicly owned |
Fossil fools in unholy alliance |
Australian Economic Trends 2023 – A “Fair Go”? |
Latest on foreign investment in Australian agriculture |
SA Parliament introduces harsh laws against protest |
One month after the NSW Election: what’s new? |
Capitalism’s neglect for threatened species encourages extinction |
Capitalists vs Koalas: The struggle to save our forests |
-----