THE Tasmanian Greens announced yesterday they would pursue a permanent ban on the controversial shale oil and gas extraction process hydraulic fracturing.
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Fracking is the mechanical process to release the natural gas from coal seam gas, unconventional shale oil and gas mining projects.
South Australian company Petragas was granted a shale oil and gas exploration license earlier this year, covering about 3900 square kilometres in the Midlands.
The move has been opposed by Tasmanian farmers, and despite the government stressing there would be no fracking undertaken in the state and the Liberals announcing they would impose a one-year moratorium and review of the practice if elected, Lyons Greens MHA Tim Morris want more to be done.
``Labor and Liberal have ignored the legitimate concerns of hundreds of Midlands landowners over the potential impacts of fracking on their land,'' he said.
``The Greens are committed to introducing a permanent moratorium on unconventional oil and gas drilling, known as fracking.''
The Greens announced they would move to amend the state's Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 to prohibit the use of the hydraulic facture stimulation process in mining operations in Tasmania.
They said that under the current laws, landowners were powerless to prevent fracking from occurring on their properties.
On its website, Labor said it would promote geological and geoscientific research to identify new opportunities for the extraction of subterranean resources.
