Government accepts all recommendations of the inquiry
The Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory Final Report (the Inquiry's Final Report) was released on 27 March 2018.
The Inquiry was extensive in its engagement program, taking over 1200 submissions, holding public hearings throughout urban centres, and talking to Territorians at community meetings in urban regional and remote settings.
The Inquiry's Final Report recommended that the Northern Territory Government accept and implement all 135 Inquiry recommendations in order to mitigate the risks to acceptable levels:
…it is the Panel’s opinion that, provided that all of the recommendations made in this Report are adopted and implemented in their entirety, not only should the risks associated with an onshore shale gas industry be minimised to an acceptable level, in some instances, they can be avoided altogether.
On 17 April 2018, after carefully considering the Inquiry findings, the NT Government accepted all of the recommendations and lifted the moratorium on unconventional shale gas developments in the Northern Territory.
The recommendations were considerably more wide ranging than previous reports and reviews. Full implementation of the recommendations has been transformative, establishing a new bench mark for industry regulation. The required effort to implement these reforms was significant.
The NT Government developed the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing Implementation Plan (the Implementation Plan), which was updated regularly to reflect progress and refine the implementation approach.
Accountability
The task of implementing specific recommendations was spread across several ministerial portfolios and government departments. The NT Government established two additional oversight mechanisms to increase transparency and accountability outside normal government reporting systems: the appointment of an Independent Officer and the establishment of the Onshore Shale Gas Community and Business Reference Group.
Independent oversight
Dr David Ritchie was appointed the Independent Officer to oversee the implementation of the recommendations. Dr Ritchie was a member of the Inquiry Panel that consulted widely with the Northern Territory community to hear their views on hydraulic fracturing.
The role of the Independent Officer was to provide the Chief Minister and NT Government with independent advice on how implementation was progressing and being managed. The nature of this role required the Independent Officer to remain at arms-length from day-to-day decisions and processes relating to implementation.
Onshore Shale Gas Community and Business Reference Group
The Onshore Shale Gas Community and Business Reference Group was established with representatives from the:
- community
- environmental groups
- local business
- gas industry
- land councils
- local government.
Its role was to provide a forum for NT Government to seek advice and share information on the Implementation Plan to deliver on the recommendations and their subsequent execution.
Implementation Taskforce
The Hydraulic Fracturing Inquiry Implementation Taskforce was established within the Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet to coordinate the delivery of the recommendations and articulate an approach to implementing each recommendation, mapped in the Implementation Plan. The Taskforce ceased in December 2019, and the delivery of the recommendations was then coordinated across NT Government through the Strategic Policy team within the Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet.
A steering committee of NT Government Chief Executives guided this work and assessed and managed risks to deliver the Implementation Plan.