On
Tuesday 19th March Clarence Valley Council voted on the coal seam
gas (CSG) motion which had been introduced at the previous week's Environment,
Economic and Community Committee.
The
motion had called on Council to write to MPs and relevant state and federal
ministers calling for a halt to "coal seam gas mining activity and all
other forms of unconventional gas mining" until the impacts of this mining
were properly assessed in studies currently being undertaken by various expert
committees. If that assessment indicated that CSG mining was safe, the
community could be assured that there would be no detrimental health or
environmental impacts and the mining activity could then proceed.
Cr
Kingsley moved the motion with several brief amendments. He said that the
motion was not about the pros and cons of CSG but was rather in response to the
concerns of the local community, concerns which have been acknowledged by both
State and Federal governments. He added that as the risks appeared to be
there, governments should go one step further than their inquiries and halt
mining activities until the risks have been dealt with.
Other
councillors who spoke to support the motion were Crs Hughes, Howe, McKenna and
Williamson.
Those
who spoke against were Crs Toms and Baker.
One
of Cr Baker arguments was to dispute the need for a halt because the experts
who were undertaking the studies had not seen fit to recommend a halt.
Cr
Baker is naïve in imagining that experts engaged by the government would take
it upon themselves to call for a halt to mining while the studies were done.
Obviously a precautionary approach would indicate that was desirable –
but the governments would have to make that decision. And there is no
doubt that both the State and Federal Governments, both wholehearted supporters
of CSG mining, would not make that call.
Cr
Toms' main argument was that there was no point of writing the letters on this
matter to government ministers, because nothing would happen as a result.
She also said that, while she understood people's concerns, the matter was
outside Council's area of responsibility and that Council needed to wait to see
what the experts said. She added that the issue was about our energy
security.
While
it appears that Cr Toms has more understanding of the issue than Cr Baker, at
least two of the reasons quoted above can be disputed.
Though
it is extremely unlikely that letters to Ministers will persuade them to halt
mining until the studies are completed and assessed, these letters are yet
another indication – and a strong one – that a local community is very
concerned about the likely impacts of CSG mining. They will be in
addition to the increasing numbers of letters, phone calls, emails, marches,
protests and deputations from individuals and organisations that ensure that
the message gets through to decision-makers in their "ivory towers"
in Sydney and Canberra.
Cr
Toms has obviously accepted the pro-CSG lobby's claim that CSG mining in NSW is
essential for our energy security because NSW is running out of gas. It's
interesting that while they talk of local energy security, the companies mining
CSG are more interested in exporting it than in providing for the domestic
market. In relation to the claimed shortage, it has been established that there
are plentiful supplies of gas in other areas – for example the Bass
Strait. So the energy security claim is a furphy.
The
vote for the motion was six in favour (Kingsley, Howe, Hughes, McKenna,
Simmons, Williamson) and three against (Baker, Challacombe, Toms).
Cr
Challacombe did not speak in the debate and when the vote was taken indicated
that he wished to abstain. The Mayor informed him that an abstention was recorded
as a vote against. Cr Challacombe reportedly informed the media later
that his background in environmental science meant he thought the council was
ill-qualified to assess the industry's impact. (The Daily Examiner, 20
March 2013, p. 4). He has obviously missed the point that it was
government experts, not the Council, who were going to assess the industry
impacts.
Hildegard
Northern Rivers
21 March 2013
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