Resources Minister Wade Noonan recently toured the state’s south-west, hearing that the community is keen to support sustainable agriculture, and some local farmers are actively engaged with the Lock the Gate campaign.

After years of uncertainty, the Labor government decided to ban fraccing in response to the 2015 Parliamentary Inquiry into Onshore Unconventional Gas in Victoria, which received more than 1600 submissions, mostly opposed to onshore unconventional gas.

By contrast a change.org petition started by Lakes Oil, which has some of the state’s only onshore gas resources, has garnered less than 300 signatures since it was launched last year.

Victorian farmers export about $12 billion in food and fibre products a year, and the government has made clear it won’t risk the clean and green reputation of our produce, or the 190,000 jobs in the sector, Noonan said.

He introduced legislation will outlaw gas fraccing and coal seam gas extraction in November.

“Victorians have made up their mind on fracking, and it’s great to hear first-hand accounts from members of the community who support putting an end to it,” Noonan said.

“The Bill currently before Parliament will ensure Victoria remains fracking-free to support food and fibre production across the state, and local jobs.”

The new legislation also extends the moratorium on onshore conventional gas exploration and development to 30 June, 2020.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association is still campaigning against the ban, saying it will affect gas prices and “defies common sense”.

Earlier this month APPEA CEO Dr Malcolm Roberts said there was no justification for banning conventional gas exploration, which had decades of safe operation around the world, and he warned that gas production from the offshore Gippsland, Otway and Bass basins is expected to peak this year, and could fall 40% by 2025.

He said there was no doubt that higher gas prices would result as supply tightens and farmers are obliged to buy more gas – if available – from South Australia and Queensland. The situation is potentially so dire that AGL Energy is even pursuing a $300 million plan to import LNG into the eastern states, most likely from Western Australia. 

However, the 2020s gas crisis is unlikely to be solved, even if Victoria and New South Wales pulled back the ban on drilling for gas and CSG this year.

Even under the best case scenario, it could take years to develop known resources, and would take more than a decade to find and develop new resources in sufficient levels to make a difference.

Santos, which at one stage planned to generate up to 50% of NSW gas demand from its Gunnedah Basin CSG projects, could potentially overcome community objections and develop new resources by 2025 on its own, however it has written down the value of its Pilliga project to nothing, suggesting it is not optimistic about its chances for development.

In Victoria, Lakes has defined several hundred billion cubic feet at the Wombat-Trifon gas fields, but the reservoirs are tight. Past work has focused on fraccing, but the junior believes it can produce conventionally in its next well.

Its potentially large Portland Energy Project is also at an early stage.