Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am calling for a royal commission into the human impact of CSG mining, because CSG mining is affecting the health and welfare of our people, and it is affecting their ability to live in this country. This is why I am calling for the establishment of a resources ombudsman, so that people affected by CSG mining, who have lost access to water and are experiencing other issues, have somewhere to go to raise issues and concerns and to receive advice, support and assistance.

What are the people of Queensland supposed to do when governments are allowing mining companies to deplete our land of water, leaving hardworking, decent people, without water. I will tell you what happens: the people of Queensland become stressed and sick with worry. They turn to suicide as a way to escape the horror of their situation. Today, I learned of yet another Queensland farmer, who lives in Chinchilla, who tried to take his own life, because he just could not cope anymore with the stress of dealing with mining companies wanting to enter his land to mine for CSG. He has fought hard for many years to resist the mining companies coming on to his land, because he did not want his family to deal with the toxic hell associated with CSG mining. The mining companies bullied him, harassed him and intimidated him to the point where, out of sheer despair, he tried to take his own life this morning. He could not see any other way to save his family.

Landholders are being left to fend for themselves against the might and money of international mining companies because governments have been giving mining companies unrestricted access to landholders' properties in Queensland. I am ashamed at the way governments are treating the people of Queensland. I am ashamed that governments are turning a blind eye to the damage CSG is doing to our water and our people's lives, simply because mining companies are donating to political parties.

As I have already mentioned, 80 per cent of my home state of Queensland is in drought and has been for four years. Farmers across Queensland are suffering. The land is so dry, farmers are having to put animals down and walk off their land. Towns and communities across rural and regional Queensland are on their knees. Mental health issues are on the increase. Social issues are on the increase. Banks are foreclosing on farms, and international companies and overseas countries are buying up our land.

Australia should be the food bowl of the world. As a nation we have the capability to increase our food production capacity if we better manage our water resources. North Queensland desperately needs infrastructure investment. If the Romans could build aqueducts across Europe thousands of years ago to shift water from one place to another, why can't we build infrastructure to shift water across Queensland?

Water infrastructure would enable the distribution of water to farmers across the state. It would enable towns and communities across Queensland to survive and prosper. It would enable people affected by the scourge of CSG mining to access clean, safe drinking water. It would enable our country to manage the consequences of drought by simply moving water around to where it is needed, like many other civilisations have done successfully before us.

In summary, water management in this country is a mess. Australia needs to establish a national water management body to manage the use, distribution and cost of water across the country as a whole. We urgently need to undertake a water audit to fully understand the status of our water resources.