Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister. I had hoped that you might be able to do that before we actually have to vote on the bill. There must be a process, surely. This is the chamber, this is the time, this is the process for telling the elected representatives of the people just what the process might be. Perhaps your advisers are writing out a note for you to say what that might be.

While I wait for that answer, could I ask a further question. How will this commission interact with, for example, the Queensland's GasFields Commission? As I am sure you heard me say in my speech in the second reading debate, it has already started doing similar work to what I understand this process will bring. In my speech I indicated this was a bit of a catch-up. The Queensland GasFields Commission has now been operating for some time and it is, broadly speaking, seeking to achieve the same end result as this particular bill. My question is: what will this bill do for the coal seam gas issue in my state of Queensland that the Queensland government's GasFields Commission is not already doing? The commission, with this amendment, which I think was brought on with a bit of pressure from our side, actually signifies, as I understand it, the qualifications or the various areas of expertise that the scientists might be required to have.

The Queensland commission does have scientific expertise, but because it is looking at other issues of land management, which only the Queensland government can deal with, it has on board a lawyer and two or three mayors who are representatives of the local community, and a former mayor who has also been involved in action groups. So it is a slightly broader proposal than this one, which seems to be solely and purely scientific. Just summarising my questions: what will this commission do that the Queensland government's GasFields will not do, and how will this commission interact with the Queensland commission?