Amid out-of-control inflation and impacts from the Middle East conflict, The South Australian Nationals have announced a plan to locally ‘drill baby, drill’. 

Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Senator Matt Canavan said South Australians were already facing a cost-of-living crisis, but with a tank of fuel now costing $160, things are only going to get worse. 

“The Nationals have been clear and consistent - in order for Australia to thrive, energy needs to be cheap and abundant,” Senator Canavan said. 

“It’s time that Australia produced its own fuel. Drilling in the Officer, Arckaringa, Eucla and Bight Basins will solve our supply issue, then we need a new refinery right here in SA. 

“Instead of wasting 100s of millions on hydrogen pipe dreams, we should be producing oil to power agriculture and gas to produce fertiliser right here in SA. Whyalla is the perfect location to produce the fuel, with a nation-building project, and a proven refinery instead of unproven and no progress on hydrogen. 

“On top of that, the federal government should fund exploratory drilling in the Bight - in fact this should be a priority.” 

South Australian Nationals Legislative Council candidate Rikki Lambert the SA Nationals are also pushing for Royalties for Regions. 

“This dedicated fund will return the royalties paid from SA resources to regional infrastructure, proven in WA,” Mr Lambert said.  

“An increase in resource activation in SA will see a net benefit to regional SA in increased royalties and solve a national security issue. 

“It’s time we focused on producing our resources from areas that aren’t prime ag land. The Nationals will get this balance right, protecting prime ag land over solar panels, wind towers, mining and unchecked development including protecting the fragile soil and aquifers of the south-east from strip mining. SA has a massive oil opportunity outside of Goyder's Line.” 

Shadow Resources Minister Senator Susan McDonald called the policy a no-brainer to help South Australia’s economy and secure supply for the rest of Australia. 

“It’s crucial now more than ever that governments support the exploration and development of oil and gas reserves offshore - including in the Great Australian Bight - to back in energy security, local manufacturing and jobs, and to bring energy prices down,” Senator McDonald said. 

“We need to be unlocking new resource corridors to drive our economy, so we are less reliant on imports, while creating more jobs for South Australians.” 

The Coalition, when in government, backed the proposed exploration in the Great Australian Bight, and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) accepted an environmental plan for one exploration well, subject to stringent conditions from Norwegian company Equinor. 

The Bight is one of the most promising frontier oil and gas regions in the world, with 13 exploration wells drilled over the last 50 or so years.  

Hundreds of oil and gas wells have been drilled safely around the coastline, generating thousands of jobs and tens of billions of dollars since the first offshore well was drilled in the Bass Strait in 1965.