This interim report outlines the current findings from the Senate inquiry into oil and gas exploration and production in the Beetaloo Basin, with particular reference to the Industry Research and Development (Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program) Instrument 2021, which provides public money for oil and gas corporations.

This submission reviews some of the many new seminal studies on health impacts linked to with gas developments.

This paper argues that evidence-based planning for state-significant developments, such as gas mines, should balance the trade-offs between short-term economic gains and the long-term solutions for food security and ecosystem services that agriculture provides.

A study, purported to be from the CSIRO, that showed that fracking was “safe for the environment” was actually overseen by the gas industry, and was based on just six of Queensland’s 19,000 coal seam gas wells, according to this analysis by The Australia Institute.

This paper highlights that employment in gas-related manufacturing declined while gas in the Northern Territory was very cheap. Fracked gas will be far more expensive, making petrochemical manufacturing in the Territory unviable without massive taxpayer subsidy.