Australians say no to coal seam gas

A POLL has revealed that the majority of Australians support a moratorium on coal seam gas (CSG) until more is known about the environmental impacts.

In fact, 68 per cent of Australians support a moratorium while only 18 per cent oppose.

When it comes to CSG in towns and cities, 70 per cent of Australians say it’s time for a ban. Australians don’t want CSG mining near their homes. They know mining in residential areas doesn’t make sense.

And yet there are plans by one gas company to explore for CSG in a Sydney suburb less than 10 kilometres from the CBD.

This confirmation of the broad reach of community opposition come after a week of intense pressure on the CSG mining industry from the community and the political opposition.

At a federal level, the Greens are introducing legislation that would give land-holders the right to say no to gas mining on their properties.

At the moment, a licence to explore or mine for gas is granted by the state government, and our current laws allow the gas company holding that licence to access anyone’s property within their licence area. Mining companies don’t need permission. This is why many farmers and other land-holders are locking their gates.

For the sake of good public relations, gas companies seek to negotiate with land-holders, but really, a land-holder does not actually have the legal right to say no. If the mining company wants to explore or drill for CSG on your land, they can, with the support of the government we voted in. The Greens are seeking to change that.

Federal independent MP Tony Windsor is moving a bill in parliament too. He is seeking to broaden existing environmental laws to include consideration of aquifers in the planning process.

Because right now, even though potential contamination of groundwater is a key concern for so many communities, the Environment Minister doesn’t need to take water into consideration during the approvals process.

A strong community campaign together with politicians committed to listening to the concerns of their constituency has meant that there’s already two parliamentary inquiries underway to consider environmental and health impacts of the industry, one at federal level and another in NSW.

The findings of these inquiries, together with the concerns held by communities, need to be considered by our government, and legislation for the mining industry needs to be overhauled.

Opposition to the CSG industry is continuing to gain momentum as more people learn more facts about what mining will mean for their community’s future.

While the industry and government play catch-up to address concerns in order to safeguard our water, air, and future, the community is prepared to continue to defend their right to a clean and sustainable future.

As environmentalist Drew Hutton said at a recent campaigning breakfast, “What we’ve got here is a mass social movement.”

“We will continue this campaign until the right to say no to mining companies is enshrined in law, we’re saying to the industry: prove CSG is safe.”