Gas halt defeated

The NSW Parliament’s Legislative Assembly has defeated a move to declare a moratorium ‘on the prospecting for, or the mining of, coal seam gas in NSW.’

The Legislative Assembly vote last Thursday followed a vote in favour of the moratorium in the Legislative Council the night before.

The Coal Seam Gas Moratorium Bill, introduced by Independent, former Green Party Member, Justin Field, was passed by the Upper House 20 votes to 17.

The Bill was then taken to the Lower House by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Member for Barwon Roy Butler where it was defeated 38 votes to 36. Labor, The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, the Greens, Animal Justice and independents voted for the moratorium in both houses. The Bill targeted the Narrabri Gas Project and Narrabri Shire Council’s support for the project was quoted in the debate.

Meanwhile, Narrabri Chamber of Commerce has also reaffirmed its support for the Narrabri Gas project.

“The Chamber has been a strong supporter for the past six years,” said president Russell Stewart. “And we are disappointed in those who are trying to stop the project and turn Narrabri into a tumbleweed town.”

Mayor Cathy Redding called on ‘those seeking to derail the Narrabri Gas Project to let the scientists have the final say on whether the project should be approved.’

“Council has been advocating for three years for a thorough assessment and strong environmental controls for the project,” the mayor said.

“The whole of government assessment report is expected to be handed to the Independent Planning Commission soon and the independent assessment process needs to run its course,” the mayor said.

“Council has confidence that the IPC will conduct a thorough and independent review of the project and make a decision based on the best available science.

“Council recently voted unanimously to acknowledge the positive economic benefits of the Narrabri Gas Project and has held a position of support for the project since November 2019.

“We won’t compromise on the environmental safeguards, but we are excited by the potential economic benefits if the project is approved.

“I believe the Narrabri Gas Project has the potential to make Narrabri an energy and manufacturing powerhouse and I call on all politicians to stop the ideological gamesmanship and back regional NSW,” the mayor said.

Independent Justin Field said his Bill had sought a moratorium, not a ban.

“This bill didn’t ban coal seam gas,” he said in a statement.

“It put in place a moratorium until the protections for water and regional communities were ensured.

“To vote against those protections is to put at risk water resources like the Great Artesian Basin and the farming communities who rely on it.”

Member for Barwon Roy Butler took the moratorium bill to the Lower House.

“Last week I followed through on commitments I made throughout my election campaign,” he said in his regular Member’s newspaper column.

“I remained true to my word that I would not support any extractive industry that puts water, our most precious resource at risk.

“On Thursday last week I brought to the Legislative Assembly the Coal Seam Gas Moratorium Bill.

“Government raced this Bill through in a very unusual way, just 10 hours after it was passed in the Legislative Council, it was being debated in the Legislative Assembly.

“I don’t think they wanted to give their own constituents a chance to voice their opinion.

“The Bill was defeated – Ayes 36, Noes 38.

“If just two Government members crossed the floor, we would have stronger protection for groundwater.

“I was attacked for bringing this Bill to the House – with comments that I am anti-jobs, and anti-manufacturing, and that I want families to have high energy bills.

“These attacks are nonsense.

“In almost every session of Parliament I have talked about the need for regional economic stimulus due to drought.

“I am pro-jobs and pro-manufacturing, but if we fail to adequately protect our groundwater, and the communities and industries that rely on it, all the jobs in the world won’t matter.

“NSW needs only look to interstate examples to see how badly things can go, once vibrant farming communities have been stripped bare by the coal seam gas industry – I don’t want that for Narrabri, I don’t want that for any community in this State.

“All we have is a promise of a few hundred jobs, but nobody can put a hard number on the amount.

“The gas industry is highly mechanised, and evidence from other states shows us that gas fields affects jobs in other industries like agriculture.

“I won’t be lectured by a government that has systemically stripped jobs out of regional NSW, and is looking to support a project to save face.

“Gambling with water should not be considered when it is central to everything we do.

“There are alternative sources of energy – including better policy – but no alternatives for water.”

In a statement, People for the Plains president Stuart Murray said “locals were distressed when a letter from the Narrabri Shire Council Mayor was used as the key part of a speech to oppose the coal seam gas Moratorium Bill in NSW Parliament.

“The Bill was put forward by Roy Butler and seeks a moratorium on CSG developments until all the Chief Scientist’s recommendations are implemented.

“The Mayor must be aware that more than half, and in the farming parts of the shire, up to 96 per cent of Narrabri residents oppose CSG for the region. A speech by Deputy Premier John Barilaro contained statements which misrepresented this fact.

“We spoke personally to more than 800 people door-to-door in Narrabri town and we asked them simply if they support the Narrabri Gas Project or not. Twice as many townspeople said they oppose the project than said they supported it.

“There is a big swag of people’s views that are being hidden and dismissed by the mayor’s letter and the Deputy Premier’s lack of care for the majority of people in our community who do not support coal seam gas. This is causing even more distress and hurt.

“We call on the Mayor to pursue a vision that all of the community supports.”

Nationals Upper House MP Sam Farraway said he had found strong support among the business and wider community for the Narrabri Gas Project.

“The Shooters Party showed its true colours and voted alongside the Labor Party and Greens to stop the Narrabri Gas Project, putting downward pressure on job opportunities and driving up household electricity and gas prices across NSW,” Mr Farraway said in a statement.

“Local jobs and local people are being pushed aside by the political agenda of the Opposition and Greens in Macquarie Street.

“Having walked the streets of Narrabri and surrounding communities calling into local businesses, meeting with local business chambers and local community organisations, asking local people on their thoughts of the Narrabri Gas Project, the positive impacts of the job opportunities that this project would bring to the region was a common theme in every conversation.

“I found there to be genuine consensus amongst the agriculture community in the region that both the Narrabri Gas Project and existing agricultural farms could co-exist and benefit from the opportunities both industries offer to the area,” Mr Farraway said.

“It is estimated that, if approved, the Narrabri Gas Project would deliver $32 million per annum in royalties at full production and over the life of the project employ an average of 512 employees. 127 jobs in Narrabri Shire, 161 jobs in the wider region, and a further 224 jobs across broader NSW.

“The Narrabri Gas Project, in conjunction with Inland Rail and Northern NSW Inland Port, has the potential to support self-sufficiency across sectors which may provide greater supply chain stability for Australian businesses and consumers into the future,” Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Resources, John Barilaro said.