Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for that protection, Mr Acting Deputy President; I need it. The EPBC Act did build on those very stringent conditions that were applied by the Queensland government and added to all the regulations that are required by all of these companies which would wish to develop these resources, and when you total them there are 1,500 conditions that they have to meet. These conditions are aimed at addressing the cumulative impacts of multiple projects in terms of community sustainability, regional development and environmental outcomes.

Minister Burke's approval of three coal seam gas projects in Queensland requires the projects: firstly, to undertake detailed planning and monitoring to ensure any potential impact on springs, ecological communities or groundwater resources is detected long before they exceed any critical thresholds; secondly, to develop a timetable for the submission of management plans for aquifers, groundwater and surface water for approval; thirdly, to maintain groundwater pressure in aquifers above conservative thresholds and plan measures to re-establish pressure if it falls below these thresholds; fourthly, to develop pilots for aquifer reinjection and water treatment programs to ensure that any water to be reinjected is of a suitable quality; and, finally, to cooperate with other coal seam gas proponents and the Queensland Water Commission in the development of a regional model for the ongoing assessment of the potential impacts of coal seam gas production on groundwater. All of those five conditions have been imposed by Minister Burke on these projects and are all designed to get the absolute best environmental outcome while allowing the projects to proceed.

In addition to the things I have just mentioned, the minister has established an expert panel of academics and industry experts to provide advice on groundwater related matters and the adequacy of the water management plans which the companies must submit under the project approvals. An interim committee has been set up pending the formal establishment of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development. In fact, just today, Mr Burke has introduced legislation into the other house to set up that independent agency as a statutory body.

In terms of the projects that have been approved in Queensland under the water management provisions, Minister Burke's conditions stipulate that the companies must test and monitor every relevant aquifer to verify whether or not they are hydraulically connected. The companies have to submit detailed water management plans and monitoring regimes to avoid or minimise the impacts of groundwater and surface water, and these plans are subject to rigorous assessment by an expert scientific panel. On 10 September 2010 Minister Burke released an independent expert report on the impacts of the coal seam gas operation in South-East Queensland on surface water and on groundwater. I will focus on groundwater for a moment, because that is an important area when it comes to the consideration of these coal seam gas projects. Work is currently underway to better understand the cumula­tive impacts of multiple coal seam gas devel­opments on groundwater resources. This has been a matter for some public issues and consideration, and that work is currently underway.

The government has also committed $1.5 million to the Namoi Catchment Water Study looking at the potential impacts of proposed coal mining and coal seam gas extraction on the region's water sources in the Liverpool Plains. Mr Acting Deputy President Bishop, I am sure you are very familiar with this study. In addition the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism sought and received advice from Geoscience Australia on phase 2 of the Namoi Catchment Water Study that included data collection, data analysis and model conceptualisation for the Namoi catchment.

I turn to the work that the CSIRO have been doing in this area. They are working on a range of research projects to enhance the characterisation, production and stimulation of coal seam gas, and address the environ­mental impact of coal seam gas production. In July 2011 the CSIRO and the Australian Pacific LNG founded the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance to undertake research in five key social and environmental areas: groundwater, surface water, biodiversity, land management, the marine environment and socioeconomic impacts. The CSIRO and the Australian Pacific LNG have provided initial seed fund­ing totalling $14 million over the next five years for the alliance to undertake this research into the Queensland coal seam gas industry. The alliance has been established with a robust governance framework designed to ensure the delivery of quality, peer reviewed and publicly available science for the benefit of the industry, government and the community.

In addition to what the minister has done and CSIRO is doing in this area, the Australian government has an interest in land use changes, particularly those that affect our agricultural industries in food production. As you would be aware from your background, Mr Acting Deputy President Bishop, decision making with regard to land use and planning ultimately rests with the state and territory governments. A number of states already have policies which protect prime agricultural land, and some states are addressing community concerns by developing such policies. The Australian government is very confident that mining and farming communities can coexist as they have done in Australia for a very long time. This should not be any different for coal seam gas. It is fair to say that to date mining and urban expansions have not threatened Australia's food security. We are in the good position of having food security in this country.