Bight Fight Goes Coast-to-Coast in Australia
Swinging by the Byron Bay paddle-out early on Saturday morning, it was clear these things had gained a life of their own.
Bight Fight Goes Coast-to-Coast in Australia
6 Min Read
Thank you, from the bottom of Australia
In a major victory for the people of the Australian coast, Norwegian energy giant Equinor has abandoned its plan to develop the Great Australian Bight as a deep water oil field. In doing so they became the fourth major oil company in four years to walk away.
The Fight For The Bight has been a line in the sand. It is the single biggest coastal environmental action in Australian history. It has grown from a tiny grassroots group down in the Bight to a national movement involving tens of thousands of people – surfers and coastal communities stood alongside campaigners from The Wilderness Society, the Great Australian Bight Alliance, and Surfrider Foundation Australia.
We’d like to extend our deepest thanks to everyone who paddled out and spoke up for one of the last great tracts of marine wilderness on earth.
For now, the Bight will remain wild and free.
Heath Joske is a Patagonia Ambassador who lives, surfs and fishes in the Great Australia Bight. He knows that an oil spill in the Bight would ruin this pristine coastline and has campaigned strongly against Equinor’s plans to turn the Bight a dangerous, deep water oil field. In this short film Heath journeys west across the Bight coast meeting local fishermen, scientists, surfers and activists who’ve all spoken up loudly in defence of the Bight. Heath’s destination is the Head of the Bight where he meets the indigenous custodians, already displaced by the “black mist” of the Maralinga nuclear tests and now facing another threat to their way of life.
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