The Surfers for Climate group has hit back at gas industry data showing the PEP11 gas exploration proposal has wide community support.
As part of its submission to a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into proposed legislation to ban all new offshore oil and gas and associated infrastructure in NSW waters, Advent Energy, the company behind PEP11, highlighted research that showed significant community concern about the impact of gas shortages.
The inquiry came about as a result of an Opposition's Offshore Drilling and Associated Infrastructure Prohibition Bill that seeks to ban offshore coal, gas, mineral and petroleum mining and exploration in NSW waters.
However, it was not clear if the proposed laws were constitutionally sound, thereby creating a risk they could be overruled by the Commonwealth or a legal challenge by proponents.
A public hearing into the proposed Bill begins on Monday, October 9.
A recent Surfers for Climate survey of 1,300 people across Australia found 98 per cent of respondents "strongly supported" the proposed legislation.
According to the survey, in the Central Coast and Upper Hunter region including Newcastle, 100 per cent of respondents, 62 per cent of whom were new to Surfers for Climate, supported the Bill.
Surfers for Climate head of strategy and partnerships Adrian Buchan said the survey results were emphatic.
"No one wants new offshore oil and gas projects. This isn't just centred around PEP11 - although that is still the number one concern for NSW residents - people do not want any oil or gas projects, ever, in NSW waters. They want healthy, thriving oceans, more clean energy jobs and communities protected from the impact of climate change."
According to the survey, the top three reasons respondents gave for supporting the Minerals Legislation Amendment were to conserve the marine environment for future generations, protect beaches from pollution and to focus on more clean energy jobs.
Surfers for Climate co-founder Belinda Baggs said about 85 per cent of all Australians lived within 50kms of the coast.
"We rely on our pristine coastal environment for our jobs and to support our local economies, and we all love to swim, surf and play on our beautiful beaches," she said.
"But climate change, driven in part by oil and gas emissions, is putting this wonderful Aussie way of life at risk. That is why Surfers for Climate and thousands of other people and businesses across Australia have called on the NSW Government to do its bit to reduce emissions by banning all new offshore oil and gas projects once and for all. We don't need it," she said.
"The vast majority is exported offshore and renewable energy from solar and wind provides clean and much cheaper alternatives. That should be our focus - not propping up a dying fossil fuel industry."
