More than 100 people rallied at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium on September 15 against proposed gas exploration and seismic blasting of over 55,000 square kilometers of the Otway Basin.
The action was called by聽the Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective, a collective of Gunditjmara ocean defenders, as part of their struggle to protect Sea Country.
The protest marched to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority office before moving on to State Library Victoria.
A whale song recording, played on loop, accompanied protestors who carried聽placards portraying whale eyes聽and other marine-themed costumes. Together, it created an unsettling phantasmagoria aesthetic.
Tony Gleeson聽described seismic blasting as聽鈥渁n attack on democracy鈥 and 鈥渁 destructive method to find gas that we cannot even use if we want to solve the climate crisis鈥.
Gunditjmara聽woman Yaaran Bundle said: 鈥淚t is shameful that the state government gets royalties as part of every new gas valve that is approved.鈥 She rebuked the Victorian government for not 鈥渞especting聽future generations who will be affected by the decisions that are made today鈥.
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