By Roy Butler, Member for Barwon.
Hi Folks,
It’s been a big week in Parliament.
The Coal Seam Gas Moratorium Bill came on incredibly fast in the Legislative Assembly.
Thank you for your public support of the position we took, it helps to show that Government members are out of touch with community sentiment.
The next opportunity to raise concerns is through the Independent Planning Commission process. I will be making a submission, advocating for the strongest possible protection of groundwater for the sake of communities and agriculture.
I encourage you to do the same.
Please maintain your vigilance with COVID-19 public health messages, especially with people from outside of our communities returning to our towns.
Please stay safe, be good neighbours and be thankful every day that you live in regional NSW.
Staying true to my stance on CSG
Last week I followed through on commitments I made to you all throughout my election campaign.
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 alternate sources of energy – including better policy – but no alternatives for water.
SFF blocks Public Sector Wage Freeze
The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party Upper House Members worked to block a wage freeze for Public Sector workers. This wage freeze would have cost country NSW $792,000,000.
Freezing the wages would have had a detrimental impact on our communities.
A report issued by The Australia Institute calculated the gross economic loss to regional NSW as result of the wage freeze to be $792 million dollars. That would mean $792 million less dollars in our communities.
The Government’s decision to try and freeze the wages of nurses, emergency service workers, teachers, and a whole raft of workers who kept services running while they keep us safe in the pandemic, is based around the creation of new jobs and boosting the economy.
When I asked the Treasurer what new jobs would be created in Barwon, or what projects he would be funding he couldn’t give me any assurances. He had absolutely no details on what he was proposing.
The reality is this money would go to city-centric infrastructure projects.
Ensuring people in our communities have money in their pockets, to spend at local businesses, is better for our communities.
Research has proven that for every million dollars spent by NSW Public Servants creates nearly twice as many jobs as one million dollars spent on construction activity.
Help us, help ourselves – fund agriculture recovery
Many communities are waiting for agriculture to get back into full swing. COVID-19 stopped our tourist trade, and meant that Government and private sector travel largely ground to a halt.
With reduced spends from all groups, small businesses have been hurting – badly.
Now that some areas have had the best rain in years, they are ready to get back into it, but the last few years have left the bank balance pretty low for many farmers.
Agriculture in NSW lost 17,500 jobs in 2017-2018 and 34,000 in 2018-2019. I would really like to see those jobs, and that money back in our economies.
This week in Parliament I called on the Treasurer to realise that modest assistance to get farmers back into full agricultural production is one way NSW Government can help us, to help ourselves.
Congratulations to Barwon’s new Order of Australia Medal recipients
As part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours three Barwon women were recognised for their unwavering commitment to their community over many decades.
Mrs Julie Dowleans of Wee Waa, Mrs Karen Kemp of Broken Hill, and Mrs Mona Vagg of Ivanhoe were all recognised for their service to the community.
