MEDIA RELEASE - Gas Free Hunter Alliance
Locals vow to fight "expensive out of date dinosaur" following Kurri Kurri decision
Monday, 20 December. The Gas Free Hunter Alliance says it will continue to mobilise hundreds of local people to fight against new gas developments in the Hunter Region after the controversial Kurri Kurri diesel/gas project was approved by the NSW Government.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said it had approved the project, before saying the announcement was made today in error. The Gas Free Hunter Alliance expects the announcement to be officially made closer to Christmas, when the NSW Government knows punters are focused on festivities.
The Alliance says this approval shows total disregard to the hundreds of locals who oppose the development.
Gas Free Hunter Alliance representative Fiona Lee said:
"It looks like we know what we're getting for Christmas. I am outraged that the Kurri Kurri diesel/gas plant has been approved. Even the conservative International Energy Agency has said there can be no new gas projects if we are to reach net zero goals and try to avoid the increasingly catastrophic effects of climate change.
"The local community deserves a clear plan from the Morrison Government to transition away from our dependency on fossil fuel employment, instead of lumping our community with this expensive out of date dinosaur that will only provide ten ongoing jobs at a cost of $600 million of public money.It is particularly disturbing that this project has received the greenlight from the NSW State Government after it has made commitments to net zero emissions by 2050."
The project's Environmental Impact Statement predicts it will pump 14.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere over its lifetime.
As the NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts and the Department of Planning hand over the approval for the Kurri Kurri gas/diesel Plant, The Gas Free Hunter Alliance says it will throw its efforts behind creating barriers for this gas plant.
Gas Free Hunter Alliance volunteer and local to the Hunter region Lyn Benn said:
"I am an ex- TAFE teacher and grandmother who has lived in Mulbring (near Kurri) for 14 years. In a time when we need to rapidly move away from fossil fuels I cannot see that this proposed gas powered plant makes sense from any angle, and I'm worried about what it means for my grandkids' futures. But I am most incensed at the waste of public money.
"If it makes sense then let private enterprise build it. For that amount of money we could safeguard Kurri hospital, give our local bush fire brigades a much needed boost or provide something for the local kids to do. Let's look to the future, not the past."
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