The Fight For The Bight campaign brought national and international attention to the proposal to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight. Norwegian mining company, Equinor planned to industrialise one of the wildest oceans on Earth. The threats posed by opening the Bight to oil exploration were unacceptable, and the proposal carried serious risks of a catastrophic oil spill, which could affect coastlines from Western Australia to New South Wales.
While this wasn’t the first time a mining company had attempted to drill in the deep waters of the Great Australian Bight, it was the first that would face a National Day of Action—November 26, 2019.
Led by Surfrider National Campaign Manager Damien Cole rallies were held around Australia. Including communities in Torquay, Burleigh Heads, Melbourne, Perth, Newcastle, Hobart, Bondi Beach and Adelaide to say ‘NO WAY EQUINOR’. In all, fifty-six coastal communities came together in unity.
On Feb 24th, 2020, Equinor formally withdrew their intentions to drill in the Great Australian Bight. A testament to the Surfrider motto: ‘taking on an environmental battle may not be easy, but with constant pressure, endlessly applied, it can, and will, be won’.
