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King
Island
Courier
A Beacon for the Community
www.kingislandcourier.com
Vol. 37 No. 3
$1.50
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Oz Day on the rock
Australia Day celebrations on the
Naracoopa foreshore.
STORY, PICTURES; P6&7
King Island Citizen of the Year Shirley Stebbings, centre, with her daughters Toni Reed, left, and Kim Stebbings at the King Island Council's Australia Day celebrations
PICTURE: Roger Hanson
SEISMIC BLAST
ROGER HANSON
OPPOSITION to seismic
surveying by global oil and
gas exploration company
ConocoPhillips in Bass Strait
is growing.
Industry bodies and politicians are supporting calls to
stop the testing until science
proves it won’t affect King
Island’s valuable rock lobster
industry.
At its last meeting the King
Island Council voted unan-
imously to oppose the survey unless there is definite,
comprehensive and credible
research proving that such
testing will not cause any
detrimental impact on fisheries and marine environments.
The council supports its
King Island Brand Management Group in lobbying the
Federal Government for a
moratorium on approvals for
marine seismic surveying.
There is concern testing
might put at risk the island’s
$23 million seafood industry.
Braddon Liberal MP Gavin
Pearce said the concerns
were genuine and he supported the council’s motion.
“Unless the company can
provide evidence-based answers, the testing should not
go ahead,” he said.
“If ConocoPhillips wants
to pick a fight with King Island they pick a fight with me
too.”
Mr Pearce said ConocoPhillips had to answer any
legitimate concerns and be
involved in a community consultationprocess.
“I have met with ConocoPhillips and will be meeting with them again over the
issue.
“I am also concerned why
they snuck in announcements
over the Christmas period,
was that while people had
their eyes off the ball?
“I will be taking this issue
to Federal Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt.
King Island is synonymous
with fresh, clean produce and
we don’t want that spoiled.”
The head of the Scallop
Fishermen’s Association of
Tasmania also opposes the
testing.
There are 19 rock lobster
fishing boats operating from
King Island contributing millions of dollars into the local
economy. The testing and
any work by ConocoPhillips
is unlikely to contribute anything to the local economy.
RURAL VACCINE QUEUE JUMP CALL - PAGE 3
In a letter to ConocoPhillips Australia Mayor Julie
Arnold said anything that put
at risk a sustainable industry
and damaged the local economy and employment must be
closely scrutinised.
“It is important for your
company to guarantee that the
seismic testing will not harm
our seafood industry.”
The company wants to look
for reserves in Otway Basin
about 25km off the west coast
of the island.