More of the same

Yes, more of the same. It appears that they (The Greens and the ALP) are taking it in tandem.

Again this comes with the compliments of Energy News.



"Anti-CSG bill in parliament againFriday, 11 September 2015

Haydn Black

NEW South Wales Labor is pushing ahead with its ban to block CSG and unconventional exploration across large tracts of the state, in a move designed to wedge the National Party.


Shadow energy minister Adam Searle yesterday delivered the second reading of his private members bill, Coal Seam and Other Unconventional Gas Moratorium Bill 2015, in the state’s Legislative Council.


The bill sets out in full the commitments Labor made before, during and since the 2015 March state election regarding unconventional gas in NSW.


It requires that a moratorium be imposed on the sector until all recommendations made by the NSW chief scientist, Mary O’Kane, in 2014 are fully implemented and the industry is proven to be safe to water aquifers, the community and environment.


It would also create permanent "no go" zones including core water catchments, residential areas, national parks, wetlands, critical industry clusters and prime agricultural land.


Work in the Northern Rivers region, home of Metgasco’s controversial Casino project, and the

Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area would also be permanently banned.


Searle said the second reading would be a divisive issue for Coalition MPs as Nationals would be forced to choose between party alliances or those in their country communities who want to support the bill.


Two senior Nationals, Chris Gulaptis and Ben Franklin, have both previously spoken in support of a CSG ban, but Searle said Nationals were running scared.


Nationals leader Troy Grant has vowed to vote against the bill, saying the government already has a state gas plan that is effectively dealing with community concerns about the industry.


“The Baird Government is moving ahead with its ‘Gas Plan’ with no consideration to the potential risks of CSG highlighted by NSW’s chief scientist,” Searle said.


“NSW Labor has heard the concerns of people across the state, those in the Northern Rivers and other CSG affected areas who are gravely concerned about what CSG will mean for them and their communities.


“New medicines are rigorously tested before being released on the community, and are only allowed once they have been proven to be safe. The same approach should apply to industries, including coal seam gas.”


He said the bill was a “sensible” approach to CSG.


O’Kane’s report, delivered a year ago, found CSG can go ahead if regulations are significantly overhauled.


The report, developed over almost two years, made 16 recommendations aimed at dealing with unconventional exploration, but that concerns around land, water, managing waste, fracking and inadequate consultation needed to be dealt with.


She found that CSG companies are viewed as untrustworthy by some members of the community, called for more consultation, and a single act for gas extraction.


Anti-CSG group Lock The Gate is a supporter of Searle’s bid, which has its roots in Labor’s promise in 2013 to ban drilling in water catchment areas.


Lock the Gate spokesperson Phil Laird said the state’s political leaders had received a clear mandate at the state election to “press pause on this dangerous industry”.


“The state election was a referendum on coal seam gas in the Northern Rivers, and there is no mistaking the result,” he said.


Searle’s bill follows an earlier private members bill put up by Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham that would have seen CSG outlawed in the Northern Rivers, the Pilliga and special drinking water catchment areas in Sydney and the Central Coast.


But that bill was killed when the Shooters and Fishers Party has joined forces with the Liberal government and crossbenchers.

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Cheers to all and sundries...

Buddy134