Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. The New South Wales state government, in a breach of at least the spirit of caretaker conventions, has approved drilling of 110 coal seam gas wells in the Gloucester basin, covering an area of 50 square kilometres and including the pristine Barrington region and key farming land throughout the Gloucester and upper Hunter areas.

This approval was done without any consultation with the water supply authority, MidCoast Water, nor with downstream water users in the Manning Valley, where a population of more than 50,000 residents are reliant on clean drinking water. Will the minister review this decision and make sure that it is done in a detailed consultation with the incoming New South Wales government so that the incoming minister at least gets the chance to start their job without their policy hands tied?

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