at the close, page-16

Well said Surfmore. It is all well and good to "blame it on the greenies", but at the end of the day, both sides of the coin have enormous propaganda machines which make it almost impossible to find balanced reporting on a subject as divisive as shale gas.

A close friend of mine is a geoscientist, and he doesn't believe the necessary research has been done to prove either way whether the damage that occurs as a result of fracking is, firstly, a risk to the population, and secondly, irreversible.

I have been umming and ahhing over NWE for a few months now, and have kept the exact pile of cash available just waiting for the day when I wake up feeling like I'm comfortable with being a NWE holder. That day is yet to come, but if volume spikes at any point in the next few weeks then I'm not sure if my ethical investing boundaries (which are pretty flimsy!) will be able to hold out the part of me that wants a new one of everything.

Good luck all, hopefully the correct decision is made by the Australian Govt, whatever that is.