Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am becoming increasingly concerned about the ongoing and, in fact, increasing demonisation of the coal seam gas industry in this country. I was even more alarmed when only last week I discovered that the Newcastle Trades Hall Council, the peak union body in the Hunter region, had entered into a formal agreement with the organisation known as Lock the Gate to ensure that they remain totally opposed to the coal seam gas industry in the Hunter Valley.

The coal seam gas industry does bring concerns, and certainly we cannot allow the development of extractive processes which threaten our watertables, our air quality and things that threaten in turn our sustainable industries in this country. But coal seam gas is a fledgling industry which can bring great wealth to this country with a minimal footprint—certainly a footprint much less than we have seen put forward by industries like open-cut coalmining. It also poses an opportunity to address our looming gas shortage in this country and will open up new export markets through LNG. These projects should be considered on a case-by-case basis. Some will be acceptable. Some will not. But let's not demonise the industry and rule out every project. (Time expired)