-
An oil slick is seen after spilling from the West Atlas mobile offshore drilling unit in the Timor Sea - Source: Reuters -
Related
It is "ecologically irresponsible" for the federal government to allow the company at the centre of the oil spill off the north west coast of Australia to extract more oil, Greens leader Bob Brown says.
The Greens have been highly critical of the government's handling of the oil spill, which has been leaking for more than two months into the Timor Sea.
A fourth attempt to plug the oil well is scheduled for Sunday after lengthy delays, the Thai-based company PTTEP Australasia has said.
"The government just yesterday announces it's giving this same company a massive new area for oil exploration in Australian waters," Senator Brown told the Nine Network on Sunday.
"They're rewarding this failure ... with further exploration leases.
"That is a government which is ecologically irresponsible."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has been handling the matter, has a lot of questions to answer about the oil spill, he says.
"He has the responsibility for not only failing to get it under control and preventing it at the outset, but rewarding the very people who have caused it," Brown said.
The Greens believe anywhere from 10 to 20 million litres of oil has spilled into the ocean since the leak began on August 21.
