Defend the right to protest

Landholders protesting at Pilliga

Defend the right to protest from Baird's anti-activist laws 12 noon Tuesday, 15 March outside the NSW Parliament.

NSW’s new laws and fines for protesting won’t stop me protesting. The reduced fines for mining companies will encourage them to cut corners and therefore pollute more, giving me more reason to protest.

The new laws will give police more power "to deal with people who intend to 'lock-on' to equipment", and the authority to move people on in all protest activities.

Fines for mining or exploring without authority, or failing to provide information and records to an inspector have been reduced from $1.1M to $5000.

Santos CSG activities in the Pilliga and the actions of the Department of Industry will be questioned in the Land and Environment Court starting April 6.

Fight continues against CSG in NSW

The Green’s bill before the Legislative Council to prohibit coal seam gas in New South Wales was supported by the Labor Party with amendments, the Christian Democrat Party and the Animal Justice Party –with a vote of 16 for and 19 against.

Earlier it had been announced that the Shooters & Fishers Party were voting yes but during the debate Robert Brown was seen talking to LNP members. He then decided to be listed to speak and seemed to have a dummy spit about the earlier announcement that his party would vote yes. He said the SFP had a gas reservation policy to ensure an affordable domestic gas supply and that he would be voting no.

Bill to prohibit coal seam gas in NSW

I’m heading off to the NSW Parliament on Thursday 13 August as the Greens have a Bill in the Legislative Council to prohibit coal seam gas in New South Wales. The ALP have moved amendments to that Bill to give it a chance of passing with broad political support.

Lock the Gate is encouraging people to email members of the Upper House and to be there at 10am to show the community’s support for the bill.

Click here for more details. 

National Management of GAB

The Great Artesian Basin covers four states; NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. What happens in one state can impact another and yet the states, using different criteria not a standard approach, decide where development can take place. Environmental studies for individual developments do not assess the impacts in other states, or the cumulative impacts on the whole GAB.

Similar to the Murray Darling River system which also covers four states, the water in the GAB has been exploited by successive state governments to fill the coffers with no regard for overall impacts. Without independent management the states bicker over water allocations for short term economic benefit, disregarding long term effects.

Risks to the GAB

Pilliga gas well

A paper published by the CSIRO in 2011 stated that ‘mining, manufacturing, and other industries use about 20% of all water consumed in Australia’. It recognised the fast growing mining industry, the risks it posed by discharging large quantities of water into the environment, and the resulting water management challenges.

Rob Banks’ outlines some of the risks to the Great Artesian Basin in an executive summary in his report on the Great Artesian Basin, published in December 2014.

Lots happening in CSG & coal

A lot has happened in the CSG and coal industries since I last wrote on my blog.

Fortunately, this month AGL’s leases over some of the Hunter and Sydney catchment areas have been bought back by the government and the proposed Camden Northern Expansion Project will not proceed.  Hoorah!

Unfortunately, AGL intends to continue with the Gloucester Project, which is in a very wet environment, where within a 100 metre square coal seam, there may be ten major faults running through to the surface. Boo!

Educating Kevin

"Coal seam gas is not a fossil fuel," said Nationals MP Kevin Humphries when he addressed a Chamber of Commerce meeting last night.

Mr Humphries has been the NSW National Party Member for Barwon since March 2007. Santos is drilling for coal seam gas in part of his electorate in The Pilliga, south of Narrabri. Gas and water are being extracted from the coal seam below the Great Artesian Basin in a recharge area.

CSG and the governments revolving door

Yesterday the Sydney Morning Herald published and article by investigations editor, Anne Davies, into state and federal governments' staff and politicians moving into the gas industry and senior staff from gas companies moving into advising roles for ministers. Click here 

When I travelled in Queensland this was an issue that was brought up often. It is commonly believed that the gas companies in Queensland wrote the legislation, handed it to the government and they adopted it. Politicians and government staff know the loopholes and how to get legislation through. The rewards offered are staggering, according to one person I met who had been approached by a mining company. If you have no ethics it’s hard to refuse, but they did.