Lazarus wins fight for CSG inquiry

The former rugby league star who was elected as a Palmer United Party Senator at the 2013 federal election will Chair the Select Committee inquiry that’s scheduled to report on or before June 30 next year.

The broad-ranging inquiry will look at various impacts and issues linked to coal seam gas (CSG) and shale gas mining including current royalty and taxation arrangements.

Compensation and insurance arrangements and the harmonisation of Federal and State/Territory government legislation, regulations and policies will also be considered.

The health, social, business, agricultural, environmental, landholder and economic impacts of unconventional gas mining will also be interrogated by the cross-parliamentary inquiry.

Senator Lazarus said yesterday that he’d been fighting for over 12 months for farmers and landholders to have the right to say no to CSG and other forms of unconventional mining taking place on their land.

He said he was taking a stand for all families, farmers and landholders across rural and regional Australia suffering from the impact of CSG and other forms of unconventional gas mining.

“We must listen to the people of Australia,” he said.

“We must investigate the impact of CSG.

“We must acknowledge, face and respond to the suffering and devastation that is being endured by farmers and landholders at the hands of this industry.”

Queensland LNP Senator Matthew Canavan said he recognised Senator Lazarus's keen interest in the issue but the government could not support the motion because of flaws in its construction.

Senator Canavan said the Coalition had supported previous inquiries into CSG including one chaired by NSW Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan in 2011.

He said that inquiry provided a fair opportunity for all Senators to have their say and made recommendations that “actually ended up in law”.

Senator Canavan warned that Senator Lazarus’ inquiry would be established in a way that prevented the “fair reflection” of all views in the Senate chamber.

“The motion provides for just one Coalition Senator out of five members, despite the Coalition representing more than two in every five members of this chamber,” he said.

“It also establishes another Select Committee, when there is no reason why this inquiry could not usefully be sent to a Standing References Committee.”

Senator Canavan said the issues outlined in the inquiry’s proposed motion were largely ones for State governments to address.

“That is why the Commonwealth energy minister has committed to raising these issues with his State colleagues at the next COAG energy council meeting,” he said.

A late amendment to the motion by SA Independent Senator Nick Xenophon increased the Select Committee to six Senators - two each nominated by the government leader in the Senate and Opposition leader in the Senate and each one nominated by the Australian Greens and Senator Lazarus.

In March, the Senate’s Environment and Communications Legislation Committee launched an inquiry into legislation proposed by Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters, to give landholders rights to say not to gas or coal mining activities.

But the Committee’s report, tabled in September, recommended the Senate not pass the proposed Bill.

The report said Senator Waters had previously introduced Bills in the 43rd and 44th Parliaments seeking to provide landholders with the right to refuse gas and coal mining activities with the first one lapsing and the second being negatived at the second reading in March 2014.

It also said the Committee supported the principle that an agricultural landholder should have the right to determine who can enter and undertake gas or coal mining activities on their land.

“Landholders who provide access should be fairly compensated for doing so and shown respect when entry on their land takes place,” it said.

“The committee also expects that coal mining and unconventional gas projects to be subject to robust environmental regulation.”

A dissenting view expressed in the report by the Australian Greens said the Parliament should pass the Bill that also gives landholders the right to ban fracking.

However the Committee said it fundamentally disagreed with the overall approach taken by the Bill calling it “an excessive and unworkable response” to landholder concerns about gas and coal activities.

“The Committee also does not consider that it was provided with sufficient credible scientific evidence during the inquiry to justify a ban on hydraulic fracturing,” the report said.

(1) That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Unconventional Gas Mining, be established to inquire into and report on or before 30 June 2016, on the following matter:

The adequacy of Australia's legislative, regulatory and policy framework for unconventional gas mining including coal seam gas (CSG) and shale gas mining, with reference to:

(a) a national approach to the conduct of unconventional gas mining in Australia;

(b) the health, social, business, agricultural, environmental, landholder and economic impacts of unconventional gas mining;

(c) government and non-Government services and assistance for those affected;

(d) compensation and insurance arrangements;

(e) compliance and penalty arrangements;

(f) harmonisation of federal and state/territory government legislation, regulations and policies;

(g) legislative and regulatory frameworks for unconventional gas mining in comparable overseas jurisdictions;

(h) the unconventional gas industry in Australia as an energy provider;

(i) The current royalty and taxation arrangements associated with unconventional gas mining; and

(j) any related matter.