Coal Seam Gas Lock the Gate Alliance - 21/06/2011 - ADJ (Proof) - NSW Parliament
Date: 21-Jun-11
Author: NSW Parliament HANSARD
COAL SEAM GAS LOCK THE GATE ALLIANCE
Page: 89
The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM [10.05 p.m.]: Tonight I inform members of the recent convergence of the Lock the Gate Alliance in Murwillumbah on the North Coast of New South Wales. The Lock the Gate Alliance is a conglomeration of community groups from across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia that has emerged as a broad constituency to raise concerns about coal seam gas. I use the term "broad constituency" in its broadest possible sense. This alliance comprises a mix of geographic backgrounds-environmentalists, professionals and farmers of all ages-and includes more than 90 groups such as Barrington-Gloucester-Stroud Preservation Alliance, Blue Mountains Conservation Society, Capertee Valley Alliance Inc., Caroona Coal Action Group, Greater Taree City Council, Greater Wollombi Communities Alliance, the Community Church of St. Mark, Darkes Forest Residents, Gloucester Residents in Partnership and the Great Artesian Basin Protection Group.
A new group forms every week in response to issues that are being raised by the coal seam gas industry. This was not the first meeting of the Lock the Gate Alliance; its first meeting was held on 6 November 2010 in Broke, New South Wales. These convergences or annual general meetings are regionally based. This is not an inner-city latte drinking, niche nimby movement; it is a group that represents average Australians. People with a broad range of political and world views come together to raise concerns. In Kingaroy, the heartland of The Nationals, underground coal gasification has been banned because the coal seam gas beds were being set alight.
The Hon. Rick Colless: No, they were setting the coal seams alight-not the gas seams.
The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM: They were setting the coal seams alight and that has now been banned. The alliance has had a win and that is now the thin edge of the wedge for the coal seam gas industry, in particular, in Queensland. Recently I visited Tara near Chinchilla and saw the unbelievable things that are happening: destruction of vegetation and farm lands, huge corridors of pipelines and roads and massive easements across hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres. There were small holding ponds of aligned and unaligned produced water-the industry term for a toxic soup of chemicals and organic compounds produced from the coal seam gas well head-all over the place. The common experience is that the residents who live in and around this industry are snookered. The second exploration licences are granted people on the land cannot sell their properties.
The Hon. Rick Colless: Have you been up there?
The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM: Yes, I have.
The Hon. Rick Colless: So have I. You must have gone to different places than I did.
The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM: That is right. Their property values are ruined and so too are people's lives. One can see that it is biting. Santos has launched a national blitz and no coal seam gas infrastructure is shown in its advertisements. One could be forgiven for thinking that they were advertisements for raising cattle as there is no coal seam gas-only a farmer raising cattle. This industry has not been proven safe and it has no social licence. The maxim "Do no harm" should be applied. Unanimity exists amongst the coal gas seam movement and the Lock the Gate Alliance for a moratorium on this industry.
Last modified 22/06/2011 10:05:05
