mar'n ferguson talking sense re miner's rights

..... and in the nicest possible way sticks it right up old Flipflop in the process.

Extract from today's PM program:-

"Three days ago Opposition Leader Tony Abbott declared farmers should have the right to refuse coal seam gas drillers access to their land.

Today Mr Abbott watered down his position, saying mining shouldn't be allowed to destroy prime agricultural land and mining companies should always respect the rights of farmers.

Martin Ferguson says the mining and farming communities can coexist.

The Minister told Alexandra Kirk the Opposition Leader had finally understood how the system operated.

MARTIN FERGUSON: Clearly he's got the message from industry. He was just plain wrong. He raised doubts about foreign investment in Australia and there's serious issues going to sovereign risk with respect to that investment.

You've got to understand the state governments have been working to try and make sure we protect our prime agricultural land. And all these issues, and he's finally accepted, is a state and territory responsibility.

The state governments and I might say industry have got to get better at working to ensure there's proper consultations so that we get sustainable outcomes"

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