We breed 'em tough in the NSW Northern Rivers.....

A couple of years back I told a former director of Elk Petroleum that Metgasco Limited would withdraw from its arrangement with that US mining company and that Northern Rivers communities would win the battle with Metagasco over its mining exploration leases.

I pointed to the region’s long history of coming together to oppose threats to water security and environmental sustainability.

I don’t think he believed me then, but I think he would believe the Knitting Nannas now when locals like Lismore Nanna Clare Twomey are still voluntarily locking themselves on as she herself did to the exit gates of NSW Parliament House at 8.30pm on 31 March 2016 in protest at the Baird Coalition Government changes to protest laws and failure to address the ongoing tension between mining interests and the enduring need for environmental protections.

The Northern Star on 1 April reported that: After 8 and a half hours at the Sydney gates, the Knitting Nanna cofounder, locked off without arrest. She was supported by Greens Jeremy Buckingham, Knitting Nannas and interviewed by Sydney media.

Images From The Northern Star & Twitter

Deputy-Premier Troy Grant introduces himself to the NSW North Coast in exactly the wrong way

If there was an issue so big that it is recognised by both government and industry as being close to the hearts of a great many residents and electors living on the NSW North Coast, it is community opposition to coal seam and tight gas exploration and potential production.

So what did the Nationals do on one of Troy Grant’s early visits as Nationals leader and deputy premier of the state – they start a donnybrook that will have people shaking their heads and saying; Told you the Nats were for all for 1,000 well strong gasfields in our paddocks.

Grant needs to keep better control of his troops if he wants the Nationals to hold regional seats in the March 2015 state election and, he needs to recognise that commercial gasfields will ruin the North Coast's clean green image which underpins local economies.

Echo Netdaily 27 October 2014:

Tweed mayor Gary Bagnall has launched a scathing attack on state MP Geoff Provest and deputy premier Troy Grant, accusing the two National Party politicians of trying to gag him over his stand against coal-seam gas (CSG) mining.

The defiant dummy-spit came on the eve of a media event organised by the two MPs yesterday at which they announced funding for a new tourism sign on the highway at the Queensland border.

Despite being snubbed for what he wanted to say, the Tweed mayor went along to the highway-edge announcement.

The row erupted on Friday when Mr Provest emailed council general manager Troy Green to tell him to trash a draft press release on the funding announcement because the mayor had made comments he didn’t like.

Cr Bagnall, who was elected mayor just last month, said his comments for the draft release had welcomed the funding for the sign, adding that Tweed council had taken the initiative to promote tourism by installing new signs ‘explaining the indigenous meaning of some village names, and that the shire also had plans for Gasfield Free signs’.

But Mr Provest saw red when he read the draft and fired off an email to council to say he found the mayor’s comments ‘totally inappropriate’.

‘Commenting about the gas field free signs just shows a lack of integrity and professionalism,’ Mr Provest said, accusing Cr Bagnall of taking an ‘opportunity to have little digs at the state government’.

The Tweed MP then told council it would ‘not be required to make any official comment’.

Cr Bagnall told Echonetdaily he was furious at being ‘snubbed and told to shut up’, saying new deputy premier Mr Grant was a staunch supporter of CSG and would not have liked ‘any mention of CSG”.

‘But I won’t be silenced,’ the mayor said….

Cr Bagnall said Mr Grant was on the record as describing those opposing CSG exploration as ‘scaremongering’.

He said he would always stand up for Tweed residents’ opposition to CSG and unconventional gas exploration.

“The deputy premier is the second most powerful elected NSW politician, but he does not have a right to tell me what to think or say,’ Cr Bagnall said.

‘I stand with our community and oppose harmful coal seam gas mining and I will never be silenced by CSG supporters like the Nationals’ deputy premier or Geoff Provest,’ the mayor said….

The Guardian discovers the Battle for Bentley

The Guardian 10 April 2014:

Bentley farmers who support the movement against mining, from left, Robert Lowrey, Peter Neilson, Colin Thomas and Charles Wilkinson. Photograph: David Lowe

There is a strange political alliance building in this country, one that governments and major parties will do well to consider.

It is the alliance between farmers and the environmental movement on land use issues around coal seam gas and mining.

It has the capacity to change the political landscape in rural Australia and leave a scar as gaping as an open-cut mine on the (predominant) Coalition support.

In rural towns, farmers are joining fellow community members, environmentalists and, yes, the hippy fringe to stop developments of coal and unconventional gas extraction in their neighbourhood. The hot spots are around Bentley, the Pilliga, Gloucester in New South Wales and the Coonawarra in South Australia.

It has become clear the opposition is not coming just from a tie-dyed fringe but also includes very conservative people who do not join the political fray easily. Farmers are now chaining themselves to mining equipment to make their point, a tactic associated by farmers in the past with the “feral” end of the green movement....

Consider the story of one farmer, one of many, who has decided to speak out. Robert Lowrey lives at Bentley in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, upstream of Metgasco’s gas exploration on a farm belonging to a near neighbour Peter Graham, a former Lismore councillor and National party member.

Lowrey’s father, the elegantly-named Dunbar Lowrey, was chairman of the Bentley National party branch. Robert Lowrey and his wife, Nanette, have the family farm that transitioned from dairy to cattle during deregulation. He describes the farming community around the town as extreme conservatives, “old school” farmers who are reluctant to take a stand.

Yet he has joined up with a friend and fellow farmer Tony Davis to write a letter to the local paper. Davis initially agreed to have a test well on his place, based on Metgasco’s claim the gas would be used for a power plant for Casino. However, once he discovered larger plans, including plans for export, he backed out…..

“When we first heard about the gas, it was about a few wells, a power station for Casino and long-term jobs,” the letter says. “Some of us accepted, even welcomed, test wells on our properties.

“Now we hear about hundreds of wells, pipelines over the ranges, fracking, suspicious chemicals ruined farms, polluted waters and valleys destroyed. Could our valley end up looking like an industrial wasteland? This makes us worry about a lot of things.

“We are worried about the Graham family. They have been our fellow farmers, workmates and friends for decades. Their farm may be the centre of the dispute, but it could easily be one of ours. They need our support, they do not deserve abuse.

“The drilling must stop, the risks are too great. We only have one chance and, if it goes wrong, it is our children, not the mining company, who will bear the consequences.”

Lowrey’s argument is there is no need for gas in the region, given the area’s “good fortune” that provides an environment for clean food production and tourism. Gas extraction development will be such a shame, he says, especially given the Northern Co-operative Meat Company has just started certifying grass-fed beef and the company is “just 10 miles away from the dirty thing”. The closest large town to Bentley is Casino, which markets itself as the beef capital of Australia…..

In some ways the anti-mining campaign has the hallmarks of any big power battle. Governments and large companies came into small communities offering jobs and riches. Football teams were sponsored. Social compacts were made. Then when resistance was met, they tried shouting, which only made things worse. Lowrey says former New South Wales Liberal minister Chris Hartcher came to town for a public meeting.

“Chris Hartcher told us we were anarchists trying to wreck the state’s economy,” Lowrey says. “Nanette was angry. I would just say this household’s personal response is we have been contributing to the economy for 150 years.

“We don’t consider ourselves an elite group. We are just here doing what we set out to do over 100 years ago.”

Just this week, another New South Wales government representative came to town to test farmers’ knowledge, to check they were not reading silly fear mongering on social media.

“I don’t even know how to turn a computer on,” Lowrey says. “I can read Joseph Conrad but not a computer manual. I assured them I was not swayed by social media.”….

The kicker in the story is what this episode has done to political support. Of the farmers and smaller block owners I’ve spoken to, all were National party voters. All say they will be looking to shift their vote elsewhere. They feel like they have been betrayed after many years of support. Lowrey’s response is typical. His father was proud to have a visit from National party leader Sir Earle Page in his little Bentley branch. Now the son has forsaken the party. All parties.

“The political process is being broken down by nepotism and other interests able to bring to bear power through lobbyists, large amounts of money and very persuasive argument,” he says. “As our system becomes more dependent on money, it becomes vulnerable.

“I am sick of parliamentarians taking material they had access to as ministers and peddling it, taking up positions in industry.”

He names former Labor federal resources minister Martin Ferguson, now a director of British Gas, and former National party leaders John Anderson, a former chairman of Eastern Star Gas, and Mark Vaile, who is on the board of Whitehaven Coal.

“It’s moving people away from conservative ordinary politics and interest in National party [here] is waning,” said Lowrey. “People are weighing up alternative parties. Some, quite a few, are going to the Greens.”

They may not move their vote. As a National party MP said to farmers in the Pilliga: “Who else are you going to vote for?” But what is clear from this debate is it will not get easier for governments or mining companies.

For there is nothing so stubborn as a farmer.

Is the truth about Metgasco accidentally emerging?

Pro-coal seam gas farmer and former Lismore City Councillor Peter Graham says the rural property he and his family own (but do not reside on) at 1480 Bentley Road, Bentley NSW, is 700 acres carrying approximately 300 breeders and that stock is a mix of beef & dairy cattle.

On 5 April 2014 Peter Graham told 2UE Sydney radio hosts George & Paul that Metgasco Limited is paying him “a pittance” for entry and drilling rights on this property.

On 6 April the peak lobbying body for companies such as Metgasco, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, issued a media release calling for a lowering of wages and conditions for workers in the gas industry and a lessening of regulations for bringing foreign workers into the country.

Metgasco is a small player in the coal seam and tight gas industry, with a staff of less than 30 employees and no commercially active production wells to date.

It would seem that even the limited financial benefit it might possibly bring to the region by way of local employment or royalty payments to landowners, is highly likely to be a lot less than the alleged billions it was spruiking to state and local governments two years ago.

Note:

Metgasco literature describes the Rosella 01 drill site at Bentley as a conventional gas site. However, in the past Metgasco has admitted that the sands may not free-flow and that fracking may be required.

Looking back at a time when the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association sometimes told the unvarnished truth

A time when the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) was honest with the people of New South Wales:

3 August 2011

Coal seam damage to water inevitable

Ben Cubby

THE coal seam gas industry has conceded that extraction will inevitably contaminate aquifers.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association told a fiery public meeting in Sydney that good management could minimise the risks of water contamination, but never eliminate them.

"Drilling will, to varying degrees, impact on adjoining aquifers," said the spokesman, Ross Dunn. "The extent of impact and whether the impact can be managed is the question."

The admissions came before the start of the first public hearing in NSW, held in Narrabri, of a Senate inquiry into the effects of coal seam gas mining.

The hearing was told that many farmers in northern and western NSW were angry about proposals to extract coal seam gas from their land, and some planned to join a mass campaign to lock their gates in the face of resources companies...

"The intent of saying that is to make it clear that we have never shied away from the fact that there will be impacts on aquifers," Mr Dunn said.

"I'm wanting to ensure that we are not seen as saying there won't be any impacts during the process. It is a matter of monitoring and managing those impacts."...

Of course, immediately after the publication of this article APPEA denied the published quotes of its spokesperson.

However, on 7 March 2014 The Sydney Morning Herald published an article which supported APPEA's original statements:

A coal seam gas project operated by energy company Santos in north-western NSW has contaminated a nearby aquifer, with uranium at levels 20 times higher than safe drinking water guidelines, an official investigation has found.

It is the first confirmation of aquifer contamination associated with coal seam gas activity in Australia - a blow to an industry pushing state and federal governments for permission to expand.

Santos was fined $1500 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority, which posted a media release on its website on February 18, without identifying the nature of the contamination.

Two days later, Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner signed a memorandum of understanding with Santos to speed up the project, in the Pilliga forest near Narrabri, guaranteeing a decision on its future by January 23 next year.

The EPA says it launched an investigation after routine testing in March last year by Santos of groundwater around the project - which remains in the test well stage - detected ''elevated levels of total dissolved solids and slightly elevated levels of other elements''.

The investigation concluded there was no evidence contractors engaged by the previous owner of the project, Eastern Star Gas, followed strict rules when building a pond to hold waste water and brine produced when gas is extracted. The investigation concluded the pond liner was of ''poor quality, which resulted in the integrity of the liner being questionable''.

On Friday, EPA chief environmental regulator Mark Gifford confirmed the contamination was caused by water leaking from the pond and that lead, aluminium, arsenic, barium, boron, nickel and uranium had been detected in an aquifer at levels ''elevated when compared to livestock, irrigation and health guidelines''.

Mr Gifford said the metals are ''not additives'' and occur naturally in the surrounding soil and water.

''However, the leaking pond has mobilised the elements and moved them into the aquifer, increasing their concentrations,'' he said...

Read more at : http://www.smh.com.au/environment/santos-coal-seam-gas-project-contaminates-aquifer-20140307-34csb.html

Note: My red bolding

Is Kevin Hogan playing coy with the media over his position on coal seam gas mining?

The Nationals Member for Page, Kevin Hogan, went to the 7 September 2013 federal election declaring his opposition to coal seam gas exploration and mining on the NSW North Coast until it could be proved there were no negative impacts.

As late as November 2013 he was attending the Kyogle Gas Free Celebration stating that he had “great reservations”, “real questions marks” about the industry, and was willing to “cross the floor” on any vote concerning CSG.

Although a month earlier in the print media he had begun to state that he could see where pro-mining Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane was coming from in his support for the NSW gas industry.

Since that 2013 rally Mr. Hogan has been rather quiet on the subject of coal seam gas mining and the opposition of Northern Rivers communities to establishment of this industry in the region.

There is no current mention of coal seam gas on his official website that I can find, he lists no advocacy on behalf of the electorate concerning coal seam gas in his own review of his first 100 days as an elected representative.

Similarly his Facebook timeline has been silent on the subject since he became a member of parliament, whilst his Twitter account makes no mention of his position at all except in one tweet praising Metgasco’s temporary suspension of exploration activity way back in March 2013.

Behind the scenes in 2014 there are journalists, working for state-wide and national newspapers, who are beginning to wonder why he is now "ducking and diving" any coal seam gas questions posed to him.

Safely ensconced in his seat with a healthy boost to his income, part of the Canberra political scene; has Kevin already begun to forget the little he knew of his electorate and quietly joined the coal seam gas club?

Will NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione risk another heavy handed political move against Northern Rivers anti-coal seam gas protestors in 2014?

Local landowners & others prepare for the arrival of Metasco at its Rosella-1 well site in early 2014

In 2013 Magistrate David Heilpern publicly took NSW Police to task over charges laid against coal seam gas protestors at Metgasco Limited’s Glenugie site.

Does NSW Police Commissioner Scipione want the world to see more media coverage similar to this because he was persuaded to do the bidding of a coal seam gas exploration company which to date has produced not a cent in profit for its investors or the State of New South Wales and is never likely to?

The Northern Star 6 November 2013

"In this case I find myself asking what could possibly be the reason for continuing on with such an innocuous charge in these circumstances? Why else would police risk cost orders against them, drive a prosecutor up from Sydney to run the matters, arrange police witnesses to travel from Sydney, all for an innocuous minor traffic matter. "It is in that context that the realistic suspicion of political interference arises," he said.....

Metgasco Limited is a mining exploration company which after fourteen years still has no social contract with local communities on the NSW North Coast, a spotty safety record and an unhappy shareholder base.

Dangerous decisions by Clarence Valley Council

A BAD MOVE BY CLARENCE VALEY COUNCIL

Letter to the editor published in The Daily Examiner 26 November 3013:

Dangerous Decision

FROM 1983 to 2003 a very large part of my life was dedicated to managing and growing tourism services within the Clarence Valley. It wasn't always easy as the Clarence River Tourist Association (CRTA) had a chequered history up until 1983 and there were five sceptical councils and hundreds of business operators to win over.

It was a long but exciting journey and with some wonderful staff, excellent CRTA management boards, highly co-operative councils and many highly supportive business operators we built one of the best tourism authorities in Australia.

The recent decision by Clarence Valley Council to terminate a current MOU and all future arrangements with the CRTA and then close the South Grafton visitor information centre within three years is alarming and fraught with danger for our local tourism industry, which has become our biggest local industry.

I cannot understand why the recently completed consultant's report was not released in draft form to allow general community input before adoption by the council. There are so many items in this report that are not accurate or not relevant to tourism in the Clarence Valley.

I cannot understand how councillors can adopt this report without so much as a question or a comment. I guess when you don't understand something it's hard to question a consultant's report that cost $30,000.

I can't understand how the council considered this matter without the input of the councillor with the most experience at the front line of the tourism industry, Karen Toms.

If this was the State Government she'd be Minister for Tourism. Within the CVC she feels she'll be in trouble if she offers guidance to other councillors and staff who have such little experience within the tourism industry.

One of the great tragedies of the consultant's report and CVC consideration of its content is that there is no appreciation of the history of many critical issues.

The first of these is CVC claiming the Commercial Rate Levy of $170,000 per annum to the CRTA is a council cost.

This levy was adopted by three councils in 1989/90 to replace CRTA business membership fees as a more effective way for local businesses to contribute to the running costs of the visitor centre at South Grafton.

If CRTA had not engineered this levy and the local business community not agreed to it, it would not exist today.

The second is the total disregard for the history of the purchase of the land and the construction of the South Grafton visitor information centre.

The CRTA selected the site, assisted with the land purchase from the NSW Government, and helped co-ordinate community and government contributions to the building costs.

Subsequently a section of this land was leased to McDonald's, but the rent paid by McDonald's is never credited to the CRTA while the costs for mowing and maintaining this front door to Grafton is inevitably allocated by CVC, in full, to the CRTA.

I have read the consultant's report and so much of it has little relevance to this area. There are great dangers in the direction CVC has taken. Of course there are ways to do some things better in future and save money - no-one should deny this.

It's not too late to revisit the council's decision and many people, including me, would be happy to work with CVC for the best possible outcomes.

Bill Day,
former CRTA manager
Yamba

AN EVEN WORSE MOVE IN PROGRESS

The Daily Examiner 26 November 2013:

Clarence Valley Council is having a workshop about its meeting structures, which could see committee meetings scrapped in favour of two ordinary meetings a month.

At present the council holds one day of two committee meetings. With five councillors on each committee, they discuss and vote on matters that are then brought to the ordinary meeting for a final decision.

In a report presented to councillors at the last ordinary meeting, general manager Scott Greensill wrote that there were a number of issues with the current format, including double handling and delayed decision making.

Before each committee meeting, the public is allowed to make deputations to the council.

"This 11th hour information can often cause problems as the person giving the deputation can introduce new information that neither councillors or officers have had time to appropriately consider," the report said.

"Many council reports are the result of months of work and the receipt of late information, often without time to allow for factual verification, is not conducive to good decision-making."

Deputations would therefore need to be held at a different time.

The council will workshop the issue before making a decision.

This is what Metgasco and other coal seam gas miners want to turn the Northern Rivers into....

http://youtu.be/1AeWYwBreEY

If you don’t’ want this to happen – at the next round of elections vote out those local government councillors and state or federal MPs who support (or fail to genuinely oppose) the coal seam gas industry.

Richmond Valley Watchdog alerts Northern Rivers to NSW Government's search for two new spin meisters

From the Richmond Valley Watchdog’s post NSW Government Hires Spin Doctors to Flog Flawed Planning Laws on 8 September 2013:

Is the Abbott Government about to starve local councils of regional funding opportunities?

The Abbott Government is dissolving the Regional Development Australia Fund and, replacing it with the more limited in scope National Stronger Regions Fund which only has a $400 million budget and no funds for distribution until the 2015-16 financial year.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss on the subject; the establishment of the fund would mean the abolition of Labor's Regional Development Australia Fund and a Coalition Government would not honour projects approved for the next round of funding. [Weekly Times,29 August 2013]

Federal Nationals MP Michael McCormack had this to say about the last round of funding promised under the original scheme; Regional Development Australia fund round 5A is also being viewed as an election promise. [The Area News,26 September 2013] 

This is what local governments on the NSW North Coast were expecting to receive under RDAF—Round Five—Funding Allocations to eligible local governments — $150 million:

Ballina (S)	10250	NSW	$232,667
Clarence Valley	11740	NSW	$668,200
Coffs Harbour (C)	11800	NSW	$484,932
Byron (S)	11350	NSW	$149,681
Kyogle	14550	NSW	$229,587
Lismore (C)	14850	NSW	$436,455
Richmond Valley	19050	NSW	$316,430
Tweed (S)	17550	NSW	$613,184

If this previously promised funding is not forthcoming and, funding under the new 50-50 financial obligation regional grants system will not be available for another twenty-one months, how will this affect projects already planned by these eight councils?

Richmond Valley Council was to use its promised funding to kickstart its planned indoor sports centre at Colley Park.

Clarence Valley Council was intending to use the funding for much needed upgrades to Grafton and Yamba public swimming pools.

Kyogle Council was looking to upgrade access to the Kyogle Memorial Institute and to improve public right of way in C Ward.

Lismore City Council planned to provide covered carparking and walkways in its central business district.

While Coffs Harbour City Council wanted to refurbish the Coffs Harbour Regional Museum.

I'm sure that the remaining North Coast councils also had firm plans for the expected grant monies.

Perhaps the Federal National Party MPs for Cowper and Page might like to explain to voters how they are going to assist councils in their electorates with this problem.

NSW Farmers ask Abbott Government & Minister Macfarlane: "Why should CSG extraction take precedence over protection of land and water and basic needs like food and fibre?"

Media Release
18 September 2013	PR/121/13
Setting the record straight on CSG concerns in NSW NSW Farmers today expressed concern that newly appointed Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane was already dismissing opposition to the coal seam gas industry in NSW. Association president Fiona Simson said the minister’s comments were very concerning especially when he had not yet spoken to all relevant stakeholders on the CSG issue. “Farmers and communities in NSW have deep and genuine concerns about the effect this industry is already having and projected to have on agricultural land and water and we do not think it is fair for those concerns to be labelled politically nor emotionally driven,” she said. “We are however encouraged by the Coalition’s Policy for Resources and Energy in particular the CSG co-existence conditions which state that access to prime agricultural land should only be allowed with the farmer’s agreement and that there should be no damage to the underground water supply. “NSW Farmers does not deny that the Queensland CSG industry has progressed much quicker than in NSW. But the geography of Queensland is different and what works there will not necessarily work here and I can assure him that not everyone over the border is ecstatic about how the CSG industry has developed there. “The NSW legislative framework in relation to CSG is severely lacking – this is something we have been saying for years. “We are not against the industry but we are seeking balanced outcomes. Why should CSG extraction take precedence over protection of land and water and basic needs like food and fibre? “NSW Farmers wants adequate protections for agricultural land and water and we want our questions, legitimate questions, answered. Ms Simson said the federal Coalition’s agriculture policy about building better stakeholder relations was encouraging and she was keen to take them up on that. “However, comments like these are a concern so early on in a new government’s first term,” she concluded. ends

Coal Seam Gas: an object lesson for Northern Rivers communities is coming out of Colorado USA

These photographs and videos set out below are coming out of Colorado in the United States and, show just part of the gas and oil fields flooded in September 2013.

Is this the level of risk Prime Minister Tony Abbott, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell, Metgasco Limited, and its main backer ERM Power, are willing to expose the flood-prone Northern Rivers region to?

http://youtu.be/y_wNkPYGiRo

Colorado frack-site flooding - September 2013 from Mateo Albaricoque on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/74683562

The Daily Examiner 19 September 2013:

EmmaB

So Metgasco is heartened by what the Liberal/Nationals governments are saying at state and federal level and plans to "ride a rising tide" to corporate prosperity on the backs of local communities.

Perhaps its board members should give some thought to both past and recent North Coast flood event history.

Then look at those news photographs of literally one thousand plus flooded gas wells, miles of broken pipelines, drifting condensate tanks and floating chemical barrels contaminating Colorado countryside right now.

Of which one Weld County, Colorado resident stated in the media:

“We probably shouldn’t have had the oil and gas development in a flood plain to begin with. That would have been the prudent thing. But, it’s done now. Now we have deal with the result of having made that decision.”

I can assure Metgasco that Northern Rivers residents are noting the lessons those photographs teach.