TONY Abbott has backed the right of farmers to deny miners access to their land, intensifying pressure on the states to rein in mining that encroaches on communities and food production. 

The Opposition Leader's call for farmers to have "a right to say no" comes as the main players in the emergent multi-billion-dollar coal-seam gas industry remain split over whether they should barge on to private property without consent.

But the risk for Mr Abbott of alienating big business and the key states of NSW and Queensland - which are increasingly dependent on coalmining royalties and the impending bonanza from CSG production - was reinforced last night when Labor accused him of jeopardising billions in investment. 

The federal Resources and Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, pointed out that two of the biggest operators in the CSG industry, Santos Ltd and Origin Energy, were Australian companies.



And Queensland Mining Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said Mr Abbott had "turned back the clock on 100 years of mining tenure".   

Mr Abbott found himself in the unaccustomed position of being backed by Greens leader Bob Brown, who applauded him for putting farmers' rights first.

"If you don't want something to happen on your land you ought to have a right to say no," Mr Abbott told Sydney radio host Alan Jones yesterday.

"Now, OK, under certain circumstances the government ought to be able to resume your land, but it's got to be done at a fair price."

While "reputable miners" would not intrude without permission, Mr Abbott said, "people are entitled to be concerned about any situation where miners are coming on to land against the wishes of landholders".

The managing director of the British-owned Queensland Gas Company, which is developing CSG projects worth $14 billion, this week left open the option of enforcing access rights over the objection of land owners. Catherine Tanna's evidence to a Senate inquiry contrasted with that of Santos, which insisted it would not override the landholder.

Neither company would comment further yesterday.

But The Weekend Australian has obtained notes of Ms Tanna's proposed evidence to the Senate rural affairs and transport references committee, which she was unable to deliver, that clarify her position. "While much has been said about the basic architecture of resource ownership, a fundamental principle of Australia's legal system is that the crown owns mineral and petroleum resources," she had intended to testify.

"Companies like ours are effectively invited to invest our money to extract resources on behalf of the state - and we pay a royalty for the privilege. This invitation comes with responsibilities and obligations."

Protests over land access by miners are gaining traction in the coal and CSG fields of Queensland and NSW as sky-high energy commodity prices drive a wave of expansion.

The anger is spilling into the city, with CSG extraction set for Sydney's inner west, and coalmining pressing on the outer suburban fringes of Brisbane.   

Mr Abbott's intervention comes as NSW moves towards uniformity with Queensland on regulating the burgeoning coal-seam gas sector, having imposed a 60-day moratorium on issuing new CSG exploration licences.

This expired last month, but NSW will retain for the rest of the year a ban on the controversial CSG extraction process of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking".

Both states are heavily reliant on coal and CSG production to prop up their ailing budgets.

In NSW, coal royalties have ballooned from $200 million a decade ago to $900m for 2009-10, accounting for 90 per cent of all mineral royalties. Total royalties grew to $1.8bn in 2010-11.

Mr Ferguson said: "Given Tony Abbott's strong states rights position during the public discussion last year on the mineral resources rent tax, I am interested to know whether he has consulted with Premiers (Colin) Barnett and (Barry) O'Farrell over this proposal, given that coal-seam gas resources are state assets, consistent with our constitution."

The Queensland government is forecasting coal royalties of $2.75bn this financial year, up 20 per cent. With coal-seam LNG projects worth $30bn due to begin construction, business investment will surge by 27 per cent this financial year, according to the state budget papers.

Queensland-based Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce welcomed Mr Abbott's support for farmers and said he hoped the ongoing Senate inquiry would help exert pressure on state governments to tackle infringements of their property rights by miners.

"What people on the land are finding is that someone can cut their fences and come on to their place and put down new roads and charge around, despite the fact that this is a property that's been bought and paid for," Senator Joyce said.   

THE Greens will move to give farmers veto powers over coal-seam gas operations on their land after seizing on comments from Tony Abbott, who last week backed the right of farmers to deny miners access to their properties.

After the Opposition Leader declined on Saturday to elaborate on remarks he made on Friday that farmers had "a right to say no", Greens leader Bob Brown said he would seek Mr Abbott's support for a private member's bill on the issue.   

The bill, to be brought into the Senate in the next fortnight by Greens Queensland senator Larissa Waters, would require the written permission of landholders be obtained before companies could explore for, or extract, coal-seam gas.   

As senior Coalition figures accused Senator Brown of trying to wedge the Coalition on the issue, which pits its rural constituency against the mining industry, Mr Abbott's spokesman said he "stands by his recent comments that the Coalition supports a vibrant coal-seam gas industry".


"However, expansion of coal-seam gas should be in harmony with the rights of landholders and the protection of prime agricultural land for food production in the years ahead," he said.

"Issues related to land use are primarily a matter for the states and the Coalition has no intention of changing this.

"If Bob Brown has a different view, he should be talking to his 'co-prime minister', Julia Gillard, and Labor."

But Resources Minister Martin Ferguson accused Mr Abbott of risking the $45 billion of investment in the Queensland industry through his comments on Friday and of dodging questions on the issue in Perth on Saturday.   

He said Mr Abbott was a "rank opportunist" and an "economic vandal".

"Mr Abbott's comments jeopardise future investment, raise the spectre of sovereign risk and are contrary to Australia's policy of welcoming foreign investment -- a policy that has in no small way helped ensure the fundamental strength of our economy," Mr Ferguson said.   

"Two of the major companies operating in the coal-seam gas industry -- Santos and Origin -- are Australian companies. Is Mr Abbott saying to other major companies in the energy sector, like British Gas or Chevron with their $43bn Gorgon project, that their investment is not welcome?"

The Greens move comes amid rising anger over coal-seam gas extraction in Queensland and NSW, where the rapid expansion of the industry has sparked protests amid concerns about the industry's impact on prime agricultural land and its effect on ground water reserves.

Concern over the issue has sparked a Senate inquiry and on Friday Mr Abbott told Sydney radio host Alan Jones: "If you don't want something to happen on your land, you ought to have a right to say no. Now, OK, under certain circumstances the government ought to be able to resume your land, but it's got to be done at a fair price."

While "reputable miners" would not intrude without permission, Mr Abbott said, "people are entitled to be concerned about any situation where miners are coming on to land against the wishes of landholders".

Senator Brown said he had written to Mr Abbott and Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce to "move our common position forward as quickly as possible".

"Queensland's new Greens senator Larissa Waters' bill will use the corporations power in the Constitution to require coal-seam gas corporations to get written permission before entering a farmer's land," Senator Brown said.   

"It is a simple solution to the growing alarm in rural Australia where, on the fertile Darling Downs alone, more than 40,000 drill holes to extract gas are proposed in the coming years.

"We would like to extend the bill to include open-cut coalmines but feel that, at this juncture, we'd be better to confine legislation to the terms set by Mr Abbott."

But the Australian Petroleum, Production and Exploration Association's chief operating officer for eastern Australia, Rick Wilkinson, said: "Unfortunately, it is not surprising to see the Greens seek to benefit from increasing sovereign risk.

"But what is truly remarkable and hypocritical is that they choose to do so by opposing a fuel source that is up to 70 per cent cleaner than coal."

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett weighed into the debate yesterday, saying coal-seam gas mining would be one of the biggest environmental issues to confront the country, while backing the need for mining companies to respect the rights of farmers.

Addressing the debate over whether farmers should be able to say no to mining on their land, Mr Barnett said the extraction of unconventional gas had a significant impact on the environment.

"The situation in Queensland is where the extraction of tight gas does have a significant impact visually and some very complex and risky environmental impacts on water tables. I think it will probably be one of the big environmental issues facing Australia.   

I think the farmers that own the land should have every right, to keep the land for food production, because if coal gas goes wrong the land is useless for the farmers to grow food production.

Sign this GetUp petition to stop coal seam gas mining. Fracking ultimately has more disadvantages than advantages.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/coal-seam-gas/petition/stop-coal-seam-gas?t=dX...

nairbe wrote on Aug 15^th, 2011 at 9:31pm:


So who are the Australian producers of CSG?

What portion of those "Australian" companies are Australian owned?

Are you for or against increased mining tax and carbon tax?

What is a "tiny amount" of land?


Coal seam gas wells Chinchilla QLD

Just listening to an interview on Abc radio. 50% of The state of NSW have been  issued to have CSG mining licenses  to drill or explore for mining. Thankyou Mr OFarrell.

Quote:

So this was done since late March was it Vegi?