In mid 2025 the Allan Government opened up consultation for two new petroleum exploration permits; one offshore in the Otway Basin next to the Bay of Islands Coastal park, and one onshore in the Gippsland Basin not far from Seaspray. The community flooded the consultation with over 300 submissions, almost all of them in opposition to the plan. The Victorian government acknowledged the overwhelming community resistance but chose to ignore its constituents and pander to the gas lobby. In December 2025, weeks out from Christmas, they announced the two permits were up for sale.
Bay of Islands Coastal Park
In 2025, there is no justification for new gas drilling in Victoria.
Allowing companies to put more gas rigs in our ocean and onshore in Gippsland will:
- Put our precious coastal ecosystems at risk from processes like seismic blasting, and the threat of leaks and spills. The Otway Basin reserve is in the ecologically sensitive Otway bioregion that maintains an abundance of marine life including Pygmy Blue Whales, Southern Right Whales, Australian Fur Seals and Australasian Gannets. It is home to some of the last remaining Giant Kelp forests in Victoria - once abundant - that are fast vanishing from southern coastlines.
- Undermine Victoria’s Emissions Reduction Targets, and global climate action efforts, by burning new sources of fossil fuels. Down the coast, our neighbours in South Australia are still dealing with the mass death of ocean life caused by the ongoing algal bloom. As climate impacts accelerate, we know there is no room for new coal, oil and gas.
- Fly in the face of the ban on fracking that Victorians fought so hard for. We know that there are only “tight” and unconventional gas reserves in the Seaspray region, because Lakes Oil had to use fracking to drill test wells back in the 2010s before the ban came into place.
- Undermine Victoria’s commitment to get our state off gas. We’ve been impressed by Minister D’Ambrosio’s efforts to set Victoria on course to switch from gas to renewable electricity with the Gas Substitution Roadmap. The gas industry is trying to scare us with reports of looming gas shortfalls, all while Victoria continues to export more gas than it uses. The answer is not to open up new gas reserves, but to speed up the Gas Substitution efforts and force the gas industry to reserve the gas that we need in the short term instead of selling it all overseas.
Let’s flood the Premier and Energy/Resources Minister’s inboxes to voice our opposition loud and clear: and signal that if any company tries to proceed with drilling for gas, we’ll be ready to fight it.