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

They did vote for her, and that is fair enough. But that is not the subject matter before us; it may be a debate for another time. We are here today to discuss this bill from the Greens, the Landholders' Right to Refuse (Coal Seam Gas) Bill 2011. It is important to put coal seam gas in the context of its importance to the community and to people whose livelihood depends on it but, more particularly, in the broader context of what the federal government is seeking to do in reducing our carbon footprint. Coal seam gas is an absolutely vital ingredient to that whole process. As you know, Mr Acting Deputy President Cameron, we have introduced our bill to reduce carbon pollution, but there are many more things that we need to do as a government, as a society and as a country to reduce our carbon footprint, and coal seam gas is going to be absolutely vital in that process.

At the moment, coal seam gas accounts for about 33 per cent of the domestic gas production along the east coast of Australia. In fact, when you look at Queensland, 90 per cent of the gas used in that state comes from coal seam gas. Coal seam gas already powers several domestic electrical generation projects in Queensland including Origin Energy's Darling Downs Power Station and the Braemar 2 Power Station. State governments have a twofold policy when it comes to coal seam gas: firstly, to ensure the appropriate compensation of landholders for access and use of their land and, secondly, to ensure that coal seam gas is exploited on behalf of its citizens by unlocking an important transition fuel to provide a source of employment and export income and to generate a long-term revenue source through royalties and rents. If this bill were to pass the Senate today, it would turn its back on that second objective by shifting the state based system, which seeks to ensure proper, if necessary judicially determined, compensation for affected landholders, to a Commonwealth imposed system transferring all powers to the rights, no matter how insignificant, of the landowners.

Coal seam gas exploration is a big opportunity for Australia. We hear about the mining boom, but coal seam gas is part of a much broader development of our resources. Since October 2010, investment decisions in the Queensland coal seam gas to liquid natural gas industry total around $45 billion. That is a very significant amount of money and a very significant amount of investment, and it is creating jobs and opportunities in Queensland. This industry will create jobs, especially in regional communities, and it provides opportunities for Indigenous Australians to seek work in this type of industry. Of course, it also boosts the economy not only of the state but of the Commonwealth. With the recently introduced mining tax, the Australian government is now seeking to distribute the benefits of the mining boom more broadly than to those industries associated with the mining industry. It is a very good project.

Senator Cash interjecting—

It is a very good piece of legislation, Senator Cash.

Senator Cash interjecting—