The people of Australia and beyond have spoken up for the Great Australian Bight. Tens of thousands of people from all over the country have paddled out to protest Equinor’s intention to turn the Bight into a deep water oil field. Over 30,000 people wrote to the industry regulator formally opposing Equinor’s plan.
Industry regulator NOPSEMA have requested Equinor revise their environment plan and have given them 60 days to do so. Meanwhile the Federal Government’s Independent Audit into NOPSEMA’s consideration of exploration in the Bight has commenced.
NOPSEMA’s judgment of the revised environmental plan is expected to drop as early as September which is in line with Equinor’s plans to begin exploratory drilling in 2020.
The Fight for the Bight is far from over. We need to keep the pressure on Equinor and on the Federal Government. The Bight needs to remain wild and free.
Join a paddle out on November 23
and say NO to Big Oil in The Bight
Equinor has once again been forced to resubmit their plan to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight. They have until November 29 to do so. The exploratory well, due to be drilled next year, will be the deepest offshore well in Australian waters and one of the most remote in the world. It is frontier drilling and there are no guarantees it can be done safely. Drilling this well will cross a line in the sand with not just those in coastal communities but all Australians. We’ve made it clear in our hundreds of thousands that we do not want our way of life risked by yet another profit-driven fossil fuel project. These projects are responsible for overheating our home planet and threatening a liveable future for all of us. We need to transition to cleaner, renewable sources of energy. Opening a giant oil basin in a pristine marine environment is an idea that belongs in a previous century.
The Fight for the Bight is not over, not by a long shot. The Bight must stay wild and free.
In May this year, a delegation from the Great Australian Bight Alliance travelled to Norway to take the fight to Equinor’s doorstep. Patagonia ambassador and Bight local Heath Joske led a paddle out protest in Oslo and addressed the Annual General Meeting of Equinor. The Norwegian surf community has stood side-by-side with their Australian counterparts, and they took Heath on a surf trip to Norway’s Lofoten Islands where they have faced similar threats of offshore oil development from Equinor.
In May this year, a delegation from the Great Australian Bight Alliance travelled to Norway to take the fight to Equinor’s doorstep. Patagonia ambassador and Bight local Heath Joske led a paddle out protest in Oslo and addressed the Annual General Meeting of Equinor. The Norwegian surf community has stood side-by-side with their Australian counterparts, and they took Heath on a surf trip to Norway’s Lofoten Islands where they have faced similar threats of offshore oil development from Equinor.
Heath Joske is a Patagonia Ambassador who lives, surfs and fishes in the Great Australia Bight. He knows that an oil spill in the Bight would ruin this pristine coastline and has campaigned strongly against Equinor’s plans to turn the Bight a dangerous, deep water oil field. In this short film Heath journeys west across the Bight coast meeting local fishermen, scientists, surfers and activists who’ve all spoken up loudly in defence of the Bight. Heath’s destination is the Head of the Bight where he meets the indigenous custodians, already displaced by the “black mist” of the Maralinga nuclear tests and now facing another threat to their way of life.
Heath Joske is a Patagonia Ambassador who lives, surfs and fishes in the Great Australia Bight. He knows that an oil spill in the Bight would ruin this pristine coastline and has campaigned strongly against Equinor’s plans to turn the Bight a dangerous, deep water oil field. In this short film Heath journeys west across the Bight coast meeting local fishermen, scientists, surfers and activists who’ve all spoken up loudly in defence of the Bight. Heath’s destination is the Head of the Bight where he meets the indigenous custodians, already displaced by the “black mist” of the Maralinga nuclear tests and now facing another threat to their way of life.
Thousands of people rallied around Australia for the Great Australian Bight. The Fight for the Bight has become a surf and coastal activist movement the likes of which Australia hasn’t seen in decades.
Thousands of people rallied around Australia for the Great Australian Bight. The Fight for the Bight has become a surf and coastal activist movement the likes of which Australia hasn’t seen in decades.
Thousands of people rallied around Australia for the Great Australian Bight. The Fight for the Bight has become a surf and coastal activist movement the likes of which Australia hasn’t seen in decades.
Thousands of people rallied around Australia for the Great Australian Bight. The Fight for the Bight has become a surf and coastal activist movement the likes of which Australia hasn’t seen in decades.
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