Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, coal seam gas production in the Bowen Basin and Surat Basin averages $6 to $8 per gigajoule. This cost makes gas expensive in comparison to real prices and in comparison to gas produced off the coast of Western Australia. The uneconomic nature of coal seam gas production is likely to continue for decades. How can the government justify its proposal to spend $30.4 million over four years from 2017-18 to undertake scientific assessments on three prospective onshore, unconventional gas sites and a further $28.7 million to convince Australians that coal seam gas mining is good when we have cheap gas off the coast of Western Australia? Also, what is the government doing to address the impact coal seam gas mining has had on the health of families and children in Chinchilla in Queensland?