Express Digital Edition Thursday 19 March

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THURSDAY, 19 MARCH, 2020

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Onshore gas moratorium lifted by state government By MICHELLE SLATER

LOCAL environment groups are vowing to fight the state government’s plans to lift the moratorium on conventional onshore gas exploration, which includes the Gippsland basin. Mirboo North Coal and Gasfield Free member Fergus O’Connor said the group was planning to “fight the good fight” to stop exploration on Gippsland farmland. Mr O’Connor described the announcement as “sneaky” and accused Premier Daniel Andrews of “trying to hide it” behind coronavirus to ensure it received minimal media and public attention. The state government announced on Tuesday it was planning to introduce two Bills into Parliament. The first is to permanently ban fracking and coal seam gas exploration in the Victorian Constitution. Fracking was permanently banned in the state in 2017 when there was also a moratorium on onshore conventional gas exploration to June 2020. However, the government also plans to introduce another Bill to lift the moratorium and restart onshore conventional gas exploration from July 1 2021. According to a state government map, onshore gas is viable in the Latrobe Valley and areas to the south through to Lakes Entrance and around Yarram, as well as the Otways to the state’s west. Mr O’Connor is a beef producer who relies on ground water to supply his farm on the outskirts of Mirboo North, and fears onshore gas drilling would risk productive farmland. He said the group was “delighted” that the fracking ban would be enshrined in the constitution, but remained sceptical that conventional gas drilling was completely safe. “Most of the farms in South Gippsland, and Morwell as well, are spring-fed, this will interrupt water supply and farms will become worthless,” Mr O’Connor said. “This is not 100 per cent safe, you can’t say there is no risk to the environment, accidents can happen. To demonstrate how things can go wrong, look at all the PFAS around Sale.” Member for Morwell Russell Northe said he would consider his position on the Bills and request a briefing from government before they were debated in Parliament.

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SIDELINED

Local sport on hold due to COVID-19 MAJOR sport across the Latrobe Valley has come to a screeching halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. March 17, 2020 will go down in history as a day never to be forgotten with the region’s football, netball, soccer and cricket competitions either postponing or cancelling all scheduled matches. The Gippsland, Mid Gippsland and North Gippsland football/ netball leagues will not start before May 2. The Latrobe Valley Soccer League has suspended all sanctioned matches until April 14. The Latrobe Valley District Cricket League cancelled this weekend’s grand finals and declared 2019/20 premiers on Tuesday night. They joined basketball, tennis and swimming as other sports on hiatus as a result of the outbreak which is having deep effects worldwide. FULL COVERAGE - SPORT

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