The Victorian government has introduced legislation to lift the moratorium on onshore gas exploration and production, while moving to permanently ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
The government will be introducing two Bills to Parliament on Tuesday, the first of which would enshrine the ban on fracking and coal seam gas exploration into the Victorian Constitution.
Fracking was initially banned in 2017.
The second piece of legislation will allow for an orderly restart of onshore conventional gas exploration and development from July 1, 2021.