It appears the McGowan Government has broken a commitment to restrict fracking to existing petroleum leases, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.

The WA Government has announced the release of four large petroleum exploration lots making up over 14,000km2 located in the Pilbara, Gascoyne, Mid West, and Wheatbelt.

Former Dandaragan local Pauline Cook didn’t know whose driveway she had pulled into - until she saw the fancy car and the driver.

Somehow, despite her and all her fellow convoy drivers becoming hopelessly lost, she’d managed to stop in front of the Cottesloe house of the then Western Australian Liberal Premier, Colin Barnett.

Mrs Cook was part of a 60-strong ute-muster that had travelled from Bullsbrook, more than 50km away in February 2017, to protest plans by gas company Latent Petroleum to restart fracking near Dandaragan.

FRIDAY, April 20, 2018: Lock the Gate Alliance has expressed alarm at the appointment of a director of the pro-fracking Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association to a senior position as a strategic adviser on WA Premier Mark McGowan’s staff.

The appointment comes amid growing public concern over the risks of fracking to land, water and health and as the government prepares to decide whether to give fracking the green light.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2017: The community of Stirling Estate in the Shire of Capel will declare itself Gasfield Free at a celebration in Mallokup Road at 9.30am this Saturday (March 4).

The event hosted by Stirling Estate Gasfield Free and the Capel Country Women’s Association group comes just one week before the state election and is designed to show voters and political candidates how local residents feel about the development of gasfields in their district.

The Estate is part of an extensive area being sought by Sydney based Bunbury Energy, formerly known as Unconventional Resources Pty Ltd, to explore and mine for gas.

Spokesperson for Stirling Estate Gasfield Free Lisa Simpson said the declaration followed weeks of going house to house, road by road asking residents if they wanted to declare the area Gasfield Free.

“The survey showed that residents were overwhelmingly in favour of declaring the estate Gasfield Free,” Ms Simpson said.

The final tally of results will be revealed at the event on Saturday.

“We are farmers and lifestylers and we want to protect our land, our water, the health of our children and the value of our properties,” Ms Simpson said.

“We want to keep our community gasfield free and this declaration says to the government, the Department of Mines and Petroleum and the gas company that they are not welcome to come into our area to explore or drill for gas.

“We want to retain our way of life and we do not want to put our water resources at risk. Clean water is far more valuable to us now and in the future than any gas that might be mined from beneath our farmlands and our homes.

“Our declaration means that gas companies do not have a social licence to operate in this district.”

The declaration will include catering by the CWA and is open to the public.

“We have had a lot of interest from other communities keen to do a similar survey in their area and we plan to give them as much help as we can.”

Stirling Estate will become the third community in the Shire of Capel to declare themselves Gasfield Free and the fifth community in the south west. They follow Quedjinup in the City of Busselton that declared last weekend.

Stirling Estate will join nearly 440 other communities nationwide who have been declared Gasfield Free.

The event will take place at 579 Mallokup Road Stirling Estate at 9.30am Saturday March 4.

Further information: Jane Hammond 0403 926 467

Public meetings for local residents will be held around the Swan Valley in the week starting 14 November, to discuss the implications of a gas exploration licence over a large part of the Swan Valley. All community members are welcome to attend these free events, which will include a short film, discussion of the local issue, and Q&A.

Events are organised by local action groups: Gate Vines, Midland Gatekeepers, Gasfield Free Perth Hills, and Frack Free Guildford-Caversham.

ELLENBROOK/THE VINES MEETING: Tuesday 15 November, 7pm, Ellenbrook District Open space, Maffina Parade, Ellenbrook

MIDLAND MEETING: Wednesday 16 November, 6.45pm, Ace Cinemas, Midland Gate, 274 Gt Eastern Hwy, Midland

PERTH HILLS/MAHOGANY CREEK MEETING: Thursday 17 November, 7pm, Mahogany Creek Hall, 325 Jacoby St, Mahogany Creek

GUILDFORD/CAVERSHAM MEETING: Friday 18 November, 7pm, Guildford Town Hall, 188 James St, Guildford

OCTOBER 30, 2016: Landholders across Western Australia have welcomed a decision by the National Party to support their right of veto over oil and gas companies wanting access to private land.

The WA National Party voted unanimously to support the right of veto for farmers and other landholders at their National Conference in Geraldton at the weekend.

AUGUST 8, 2016: It was standing room only for a screening of Lock the Gate’s A Fractured Country in Cowaramup last Friday (August 6).

The crowd turned out to see the film, which tells the story of the gas rush currently taking place in Australia, and find out more about the Gasfield Free Community movement that has developed in response to the industry

 JUNE 2, 2016:More than 100 people turned out at a meeting in Burekup on June 1 to discuss the risks of unconventional gas mining. 

Spokesperson for Gas Free South West Jodi Larke said the meeting was empowering and demonstrated the strength of concern in the local community about the risks to land, water and health posed by the gas industry.

MARCH 17, 2106: The Lock the Gate Alliance has labeled the state government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry into fracking in WA as “an attempt to water down already inadequate and weak recommendations.”

Western Australian coordinator for Lock the Gate Boudicca Cerese said the government had only given its full support to half of the 12 recommendations of the inquiry.