The Nightcliff by-election on Saturday 7 March comes as the fate of the Territory’s nature, water and climate hangs in the balance.  

We’re seeing environmentally destructive projects like gas fracking greenlit, water extraction for cotton streamlined, and our renewable energy target scrapped altogether by the Northern Territory government. 

The by-election is a temperature check on where the major parties and independent candidates stand on the most pressing issues facing the Northern Territory.

This is an opportunity to send a message that we will not accept the status quo when it comes to protecting our water, climate, and nature. 

We will never tell you how to vote in the by-election and are committed to working with all sides of politics to ensure thriving nature and a sustainable future for all Territorians. 

We’re asking candidates to pledge to stand up for the Territory’s climate and water, by:

1. Opposing the use of taxpayer money for fracking (including for fracking pipelines); and
2. Supporting ambitious, staged renewable energy targets and large-scale battery storage for the transition to 100% renewables in the NT, to bring down energy bills and pollution. 

By signing the petition below, an email will be sent to all candidates in the Nightcliff by-election urging them to make this pledge - for our water, our environment, and our future. 

We'll publish the results after Wednesday 25 February. 

We can’t trust Santos with our air quality, and we can’t trust them with our water. 

Santos wants to start fracking at Tanumbirini Station south-east of Katherine, in a region marked by majestic paperbark forests, sweeping ghost gum floodplains, sandstone gorges, and magical hot springs that until recently were completely unknown to western science.  

It’s the biggest fracking project ever proposed by Santos, signalling a massive expansion of gas exports – with the Territory’s iconic waterways and landscapes paying the price.  

What’s at risk?  

Experts say that Santos’ plan poses substantial risks to our precious groundwater and the incredible ecosystems that rely on it.  

Santos’ fracking plans will see toxic chemicals pumped through Cambrian Limestone aquifer, a geological formation the size of France that supplies fresh water for communities, tourism, farming and pastoral industries and feeds our iconic springs and waterways.   

This ancient underground water source is the very lungs of the Territory – and contamination with toxic fracking chemicals could be catastrophic. 

They also want to build drillpads and store toxic wastewater in the middle of a flood plain, close to the majestic Hot Springs valley as well as creeks that discharge into the Cox and Limmen Bight River systems.  

What can be done?  

Santos has submitted its fracking plans for approval by the NT Government, but Territorians know they can’t trust the Finocchiaro Government to protect our water, nature, and communities.  

So, it’s up to Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to stand up for the Territory, and call Santos’ fracking project in for assessment under Federal environment laws.  

Will you send an email below and demand that Labor stand up to Santos and defend the Territory's water and nature? 

The Finocchiaro government has gutted its rules around the regulation of climate pollution in the Northern Territory, just months after scrapping its promised 2030 emissions reduction target.

The CLP government has broken its promised 2030 emissions target - in another sign that the Territory is being treated like a sacrifice zone for the gas industry.