The federal government is under pressure to step up regulation of gas corporations hoping to frack the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin.
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Under Australia's current environment laws, only some plans like coal seam gas or large coal mining projects are required to be approved while others like hydraulic fracturing are exempt.
But independent MP Sophie Scamps says that isn't enough.
"This loophole is dangerous and could see projects proceed that have the potential to devastate our scarce water sources," she said on Monday.
The teal independent has introduced a private bill to the House of Representatives in an attempt to ensure the impact of all gas fracking projects on local water resources are appropriately assessed.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young will take an identical private bill to the Senate later this week.
The proposed reforms expand the scope of the water trigger in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which is a mechanism that requires projects likely to have a significant impact on water resources come before the federal environment minister.
This means all gas projects including shale gas fracking projects like those proposed in the Beetaloo Basin and the Kimberleys in Western Australia, would need federal approval before they could proceed.
"With the threat of drought again looming large and the approval of new shale fracking projects in the Beetaloo Basin imminent, it is urgent that we act now to protect our water resources from potentially destructive unconventional fracking practices," Dr Scamps said.
The Beetaloo Basin had previously fallen under a fracking moratorium due to environmental concerns, but after the Pepper inquiry found industry risks could be managed, the NT government announced in May that it would allow full-scale onshore gas projects to go ahead.
The decision was met with condemnation from environmentalists and Indigenous groups, some of whom have now united to support Dr Scamps' bill.
Lock The Gate representative Peter Martin said water was the most valuable commodity on earth.
"If we destroy the water resources, we are left with nothing," he told reporters.
"Without the right controls in place, you're going to destroy the resource on which the future of the Northern Territory depends, for an industry that - I would argue - has only so many years left to run."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously backed proposals to extend the federal water trigger to shale gas fracking, though the Labor government is yet to take action on this commitment.
Rallen pastoralists' representative Luciana Ravazzotti said the regulation was desperately needed.
"The Northern Territory government hasn't been listening to Territorians," she said.
"We're running out of time. We're calling on federal Labor to stick with their promises."
Australian Associated Press
