senator joyce caught in the csg web

QLD:Senator Joyce caught in the CSG web

By Petrina Berry
BRISBANE, Aug 1 AAP - Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce has been
caught up in the coal seam gas controversy after finding out his
own farm will be mined.
Senator Joyce discovered his northern NSW farm was an
exploratory target only after a neighbour tipped him off.
Ironically, the senator was sitting on a public hearing into the
industry's impacts in Brisbane last month when he was informed
Eastern Star Gas was given approval to explore CSG at his Baradine
farm.
He now joins a number of Queensland and NSW farmers affected by
the CSG industry.
"People say I'm influenced by the fact it affects me," Senator
Joyce told AAP.
"Well absolutely. I'll have to have my head removed for it not
to affect me.
"Of course it motivates me but I am also motivated by the fact
that it's completely unjust."
He said he wasn't against CSG mining but he was concerned about
environmental impacts and the lack of rights farmers were afforded.
"The farmer really has no rights and gets no money from it,"
Senator Joyce said.
"On my own place where I pay the rates, insurance, repairs and
maintenance I can't just go and knock down trees but the mining
companies can.
"I can't just put down a bore and take what I want but the
mining companies can."
He said compensation for farmers was also paltry.
"We're finding that some of these wells can produce up to $1
million a day, while other ones can produce between $10,000 and
$30,000 a day," he said.
"Yet, we find out what the farmer gets - $240 a year, $1500 a
year and the best of them were $8000 or $9000 a year."
The Senate Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee's
inquiry is examining whether CSG extraction will affect water
resources, farming land and property values.
The hearing will resume in New South Wales at Narrabri, about
160km north of Senator Joyce's farm, on Tuesday.
AAP peb/crh/dep