The Australian Senate has moved to further scrutinise plans by BP and others to drill for oil in the pristine Great Australian Bight, re-establishing a lapsed Senate inquiry, calling for more submissions and holding two new public hearings.

The Senate environment and communications references committee began investigating the environmental, social and economic impacts of plans to drill in the Bight, but the inquiry lapsed when a double-dissolution election was called, and held on July 2 this year.

Last week Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said she would push to restart the inquiry, as did Nick Xenophon. Labor also said this week they would support the inquiry restarting.

The committee will now call for new submissions to the inquiry, which will be accepted until 17 October. It will also hold two more public hearings, one in Canberra and one in Adelaide.

It will keep its currently planned reporting date of 17 March.

The decision comes just days after the Guardian revealed the drilling in the bight could go ahead using potentially flawed bolts that US regulators have said could cause a devastating spill.

The regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Environmental and Management Authority (Nopsema) had already rejected BP’s environmental plans twice, but the documents have not been released, so the reasons for rejection are unknown.

Nopsema usually only allows environmental plans to be resubmitted twice but BP has split its application into two separate proposals, apparently resetting the counter.



Nopsema is due to hand down a decision on the new environmental plan on Monday.

Hanson-Young said: “Perhaps now we will be able to bring some much needed transparency and public scrutiny to this ridiculously secretive process.

“With Nopsema’s decision due in just days, this inquiry is absolutely essential.

“The local community, the environmental groups, the industries and the traditional owners need to be heard. This inquiry will let that happen.”