Parents and doctors from the Northern Territory have travelled to Canberra to demand the federal government stop fracking in the Beetaloo Basin and withdraw its $1.5 billion subsidy for the Middle Arm project on Darwin Harbour.
Holding signs that read “do no harm”, “our children need a safe climate” and “no taxpayers $$ for coal and gas”, more than 100 people joined the protest outside Parliament House on Tuesday.
Indigenous traditional owners also joined the protest, decrying the government’s support for Santos’ Barossa gas project off the coast of the Tiwi Islands.
“First Nations communities and campaigners in the Northern Territory are fighting on all fronts,” one speaker told the crowd.
NT paediatrician Dr Louise Woodward said the delegation of parents and health professionals — backed by the Australian Medical Association — were raising the alarm about the impacts of gas developments on the climate.
“Northern Australia is on the frontline of the climate crisis, it’s getting hotter in the Top End, we have more heat stress days every year and many of our families do not have appropriate housing or money to pay for power to escape the heat,” she said.
“Our hospitals and clinics do not have the resources to manage the needs of our communities as it is — what is going to happen as the climate crisis progresses?
“There is certainly no safe way to frack the Beetaloo Basin or process gas at Middle Arm so close to the population of Darwin.”
Earlier in the year, almost 50 NT paediatricians signed a joint letter urging the NT government to withdraw Beetaloo Basin fracking support.
Now more than 2,300 health specialists have signed a petition that will be delivered to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Dr Catherine Pendrey, a representative from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said the 40,000 members were calling for the extraction and processing of gas to be stopped because of the potential health impacts.
The rally comes days after NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles — in an address to the National Press Club — accused “Teals and trolls” of “spreading their nonsense” about plans to develop the north and trying to shut down projects.
