Fertile plains under frack attack June 18, 2011 SMH.It?s hard to...

Fertile plains under frack attack
June 18, 2011 SMH.

It?s hard to know where to start on this latest offering from the fourth estate; maybe we should start with the title - fertile plains- the photo in the article hardly screams fertility, more a case of slash and burn. I guess if you look past the fields of dreams to the small hills beyond, at least they?re green, maybe how the Pilliga Scrub once looked. For a headline grabber you can?t go past - frack attack- although I note Eastern Star Gas for many years has been saying it won?t use fracking, the article doesn?t make clear if Planet Gas will use fracking, but relies on Mr Cush to comment on the company?s extraction process.

Eastern star gas is proposing to clear 2410 hectares of vegetation, this represents little more than half of Mr Cush?s farm, an area of half just one farm could generate multi millions in revenue and become a large employer in a community desperate for jobs, I guess if you can afford to sit down to a bowl of upmarket pasta your not really worried about being unemployed. On a percentage basis I wonder how much of Mr. Cush?s fertile plains sit on cleared land, as I note statements like;

- on their rich black soils, gravel roads intersecting their crops.

- For Doug Cush, coal seam gas and prime agricultural land are incompatible.

It seems Aboriginals and farmers are the ones who are incompatible, Mr. Doug Cush is described as a third-generation farmer in the area, I wonder how many aboriginals can boast to have like Mr Cush's 4650 hectares of plum agricultural farmland between Narrabri and Moree.

I am heartened to see comments from the chief executive of NTSCORP (the native title representative body) Mr Warren Mundine on the benefits from the mining industry for traditional owners, in jobs and enterprise development.

''The current global demand for Australia's natural resources provide opportunities for real long-term economic advancement Aboriginal people,'' he wrote. ''As a general rule, traditional owners in NSW want to work with mining companies to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes in a culturally appropriate manner.''

Mr Cush may well be a third generation farmer from the area, but he can?t lay claim to being first to harvest the land, that privilege can only go to traditional owners who were pushed out through theft and murder.

I?m use to seeing soft cuddly farmers, animals, or tractors in the header above any story the ABC claims to represent rural Australia, but expected more from the Sydney morning herald.

Maybe for clarity and honesty Mr Cush could document how much fertilizer or fossil fuels is used in the production of his upmarket pasta, or like the UK every packet could list the amount of CO 2 generated in its production, sadly the debate on coal seam gas seems to be a very one sided affair.

Let me get this straight, farm land is only for farmers which begs the question why when it rains too much the hands come out for flood relief, and when there?s no rain the hands are out for drought relief, or if another country has better or cheaper quality produce they scream for market protection, even in Cuba this practise is being fazed out.

When did farmers become a protected species, protected by the media, government, and now the Greens, the next time the farming sector cries poor and looks for another handout from taxpayers, let?s not be so hasty to hand over the loot.

Maybe we would be the lucky country if we weren?t resource rich, and Australians might be happy with higher taxation to fund Health Services, Education, Social security, government programs etc, personally I?m pretty sure most families are stretched enough now. High fuel costs mean higher food cost so rather than being reliant on an unstable Middle East, we should look to produce as much energy as we can locally, so when prices skyrocket Australia is well positioned to handle higher these costs.

No one can argue against not protecting the environment, but media shouldn?t be allowed to hoodwink the public into thinking that farmers are the new green, and only have the environments best interests at heart when clearly it?s their interests they?re most concerned about.

For an industry so reliant on taxpayers? funding, is ageing rapidly, has problems attracting new blood, has slashed and burnt its way through countless tracks of Australia and dropped more chemicals than the hippies duped to believe farming is good for the environment.

I say no fracking way should a few who own so much of this country deprive Australians of an energy source that could generate electricity up to 70% cleaner than coal.

Another problem in the reporting of the CSG industry is the prevalence to show hazard signs or half completed buildings sites in the opening credits for any journalistic endeavour, anyone who has ever worked in construction will know that a bridge, road works, or property development never looks pretty during construction. In farming like construction you don?t have to go too far to find a gate with a hazardous chemical or a danger sign warning workers, but unlike farming the Medias method of choice in the portraying CSG is to be alarmist.

Farmers are not the owners of the land beneath their feet, but merely custodians of a common treasury, they don?t farm for fun they do it for profit, and it seems Mr Cush and his upmarket pasta business are doing it very well indeed. When we look back at Pauline Hanson and how her views could have grown so popular, you can?t go past certain sections of the media that gave her way too much oxygen and failed to ask the hard questions. It?s ironic that Bob Brown who for years was treated with kid gloves, is becoming so very testy towards certain sections of the media willing to ask tough questions now he holds power in a minority government.

Regards MB.