An electricity and gas supplier accused of hiding major environmental incidents is facing new calls for an urgent investigation.
According to Lock the Gate Alliance (LGA), Origin Energy allegedly committed major management cover-ups of contamination, leaks of oil and gas, and failure to maintain wells. The matter is before the Federal Court of Australia.
LGA is now demanding an urgent forensic audit of Origin Energy activities across Australia throughout the past decade.
“The incidents alleged by an Origin whistleblower this week will send shockwaves through rural communities across Australia – they represent the worst nightmare of farmers forced to live alongside oil or gas mining,” LGA campaign coordinator Carmel Flint says.
“The whistleblower allegations claim that apparently serious leaks and contamination went deliberately unreported and basic environmental maintenance was not conducte. These claims should sound the death knell for the failed strategy of allowing oil and gas giants to regulate themselves. That’s just been a case of the fox rampaging through the hen house.
“It’s time for our governments to crack down on the laissez-faire attitude of gas giants, and the first step should be to commission a far-reaching and independent forensic audit of all Origin activities. Origin has already come under fire for its appalling treatment of landholders in Queensland over the last two years. The governments of Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia, in particular, need to step in now and pursue rigorous action to hold them to account.”
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