Mandurah and Murray residents are being warned to seriously consider the future of mining in the region, with ant-fracking organisation Lock the Gate mobilising and building their campaign in the lead-up to the federal election.
Lock the Gate, which began in Queensland following land use disputes between farmers and mining interests, has been campaigning for more than a year from Mandurah to Bunbury, advocating for governmental change to land access rights.
Despite calls from organisations like Lock the Gate, as well as parliamentary committees, on the need for the law to be changed to allow farmers to veto mining access rights, the State Government announced it would not adopt the recommendation.
The parliamentary enquiry into unconventional gas mining passed its reccomendations to government in November last year, and despite upholding the majority of them, the ability of farmers and private land owners to refuse mining companies access to the land was refused.
“There are no legal rights for landowners to stop gas companies using their land for mining, regardless of the type of gas- conventional or unconventional,” Gas Free Southwest WA organiser Carly Stone said.
Ms Stone said residents who were concerned about fracking should start paying attention now, with a number of exploratory drilling projects occurring over two mining licences between Mandurah and Bunbury.
Ms Stone said mining interests had been ramping up exploratory drilling throughout areas of WA, and with available licenses near Mandurah it was only a matter of time until drilling occured more and more locally.
“It’s not just fracking we’re referring to,” Ms Stone said.
“Even with conventional drilling, land owners don't have the right to refuse mining and drilling on their land. In a lot of places, including farms in Murray, a lot of people don’t have any power over it, and they only realise it when there’s already a drill on their land.”
Ms Stone said more and more people were joining the Lock the Gate campaign as issues over mining, especially disputes between mining firms and farmers, became more exposed.
“It’s really been a domino effect,” she said.
“People want to do something about it, and they want to say something to the government. The message is the law needs to change, because you can’t keep having people hit this brick wall when all they’re trying to do is protect their homes.”
Currently, exploratory fracking is being undertaken on the EP480 permit, which extends south of the Mandurah CBD to Lake Preston, with the EP416 permit extending from the Preston/Harvey area to Bunbury.
Ms Stone said residents needed to be aware of both the dangers and the legal issues of land rights.
“We are calling upon our local and state government to support veto rights for landowners,” she said.