AAP | March 15, 2012A GREENS bill for a moratorium on coal seam...

AAP | March 15, 2012

A GREENS bill for a moratorium on coal seam gas mining
CSG) has been voted down in the NSW upper house.

Crossbenchers have sided with the government in opposing
the proposal.


NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham last year introduced his
bill for a 12-month stay on CSG mining, and today in the
upper house it was defeated by 19 votes to 16.


Speaking before the vote Mr Buckingham called for
a "pause" in the controversial and increasingly unpopular
extraction process, saying it would be a dereliction of
duty to oppose it.


"The coal seam gas industry is at war with the NSW
community ... people are absolutely fed up with what they
see as an assault on their way of life, on their
businesses, and on the future prosperity of their
communities," Mr Buckingham told MPs in the upper house.


"It is dividing communities, contaminating land and
destroying biodiversity right now in this state.


"A pause is appropriate. It respects the most basic
principle of ecologically sustainable development.


"To reject it out of hand and to put at risk the capacity
of the state to feed itself, to sustain our communities
and to keep them resilient is a dereliction of duty."


Labor MPs sided with the Greens in backing the moratorium
but the Shooters and Fishers Party and Christian
Democrats voted against the bill.


Christian Democrat MP Paul Green said an immediate
moratorium would undermine an upper house inquiry into the
coal seam gas industry, which is due to hand down its
report in May.


"The Christian Democratic Party believes the inquiry
should be able to take its course fairly without undue
influence or pressure," he told MPs during the debate.


Last week Shooters MP Robert Brown said "there is no way"
his party would second guess the upper house inquiry by
backing the moratorium.


Senior coalition MP Duncan Gay said the government was
already acting to regulate the coal seam gas industry, and
the moratorium bill was lazy and politicised the issue.


Earlier this month the NSW Government released its draft
regional land use policy, which classified almost one
million hectares of the New England North West and 400,000
hectares of the Upper Hunter as high-value agricultural
land.


However, in a move that has angered farmers and
environmentalists, major mining and exploration -
including coal seam gas proposals - will not be banned on
the areas set aside as prime agricultural land.


Instead, new restrictions will be put in place, including
the creation of an independent panel to assess mining
proposals before they can progress to the development
application stage.


"It is just too easy to just say we are going to shut the
gate and turn off the lights, we're going to shut down the
state of NSW," Mr Gay told MPs in the upper house.


Later today the NSW lower house will debate a 30,000
strong petition calling for a moratorium on CSG mining,
with farmers and environmentalists planning a rally
outside state parliament in Sydney.

CSG Moratorium Fails in NSW Upper House

LOL, It seems that Guns, Fishing Rods and the Bible is a
vote for CSG :)

Great to see the Greens got put back in their place to let
the NSW Government inquiry take its course. Due for
release in May?? Too many coffee breaks......

NO MORATORIUM ON CSG IN NSW

Gaspew ;)