NSW Standing Committee

Last week Anthony Roberts fronted the standing committee. Its a 50 page report and there are questions raised about Metgasco specifically at the beginning and gas scattered throughout. Its interesting reading.

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Pr...ster of State - Wednesday 20 August 2014.pdf
1. Roberts categorically says that he was not involved in the decision to suspend Metgasco's licence - it was the Director of the Office of Coal Seam Gas.
2. Great banter between Jeremy Buckingham & Anthony Roberts in the second half of the document, especially when JB gets the Federal Minister's name wrong.
3. Robert's blames the industry for not knowing how much gas is around. Surely its his role to manage it. All of the gas companies are in competition.
4."While we are making significant headway addressing issues with petroleum applications, the matter of existing titles presents a more imposing challenge. To put it simply, the Government has a considerable challenge dealing with rights granted to parties under the former Government. Despite the best wishes of Jeremy Buckingham, agreements entered into in good faith under the legislation in place at the time cannot simply be dispensed without just cause. In an ideal world there are some in this House who would receive a bill for the cost of purchasing back all the titles Labor awarded, but unfortunately for the New South Wales public it is not quite that simple." This suggests that they could be worried that any payout to MEL sets a dangerous precedent for NSW.
5. The feeling I get is that Robert's is happy to deal with the big boys Santos & AGL, but smaller operators do not have the resources to do it properly.