Gunditjmara woman calls for Warrnambool rally against proposed seismic testing

Gunditjmara woman Yaraan Couzens Bundle has joined the Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective and allies across the region in calling for a rally against offshore gas exploration to be held at the Warrnambool breakwater on Sunday, October 22.

It comes as a US oil and multinational company plans to conduct testing across thousands of square kilometres of ocean floor off the coast of Port Fairy, Warrnambool and Port Campbell as soon as late 2023.

"Traditional owner consultation is never about if a project goes ahead, only how and when - consultation is not consent," Ms Couzens Bundle said.

"In Gunditjmara country, seismic blasting can never co-exist peacefully with ancient living creation songlines and our sacred traditions.

"No environmental plan put forward by any of these companies can truly measure the irreversible damage done by seismic blasting and then drilling into the ocean floor."

Seismic testing has been widely used by fossil fuel giants and involves blasting the sea floor with high-powered air guns at 10-second intervals and measuring the echoes to map potential reserves lying beneath the rock.

A lack of scientific studies means the scale of the effects is unknown.

But Ms Couzens Bundle said many significant Southern Ocean species from the plankton family including the southern rock lobster to other migratory species such as the short finned eel, blue whales and southern right whales had been "blatantly dismissed".

"Our Gunditjmara First Nations birthrights on our place of belonging - sacred country - which our ancestors have cared for and occupied for thousands of years are also not understood so cannot be 'managed' or compromised," Ms Couzens Bundle said.

"We are fighting against the largest blasting survey area in the world on sacred songlines. Ancient waters not theirs to destroy".

Ms Couzens Bundle was joined by members of the SOPEC, including protest organiser Zoe Brittain at Warrnambool's Logans Beach whale-watching platform.

"The Great Southern Ocean is an incredibly unique part of the world, providing a home to a large and diverse range of species that we are lucky enough to live alongside," Ms Brittain said.

"Why must our local environment bear the burden of risk, especially when we know these systems are already so delicate?".

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