Metgasco's worries increase about its future in an increasingly hostile environment

 

It is not only Sydney’s outer west, the Mid-North Coast, Northern Rivers communities, local government, the Federal Environment Minister, some state and federal sitting MPs and certain candidates at the 2013 federal election which are lining up in opposition to the coal seam gas industry and mining companies such as Metgasco Limited – now the O’Farrell Government is beginning to feel the political and social backlash flowing from its unwise decision to force this socially disruptive, water-hungry and potentially environmentally destructive industry on the people of New South Wales and has announced a review all coal seam gas activity in NSW.

Metgasco has been quick to react as its commercial worries mount.

 

It is noted that Metgasco's External Relations Manager Richard Shields was Deputy State Director and Director of Party Affairs at the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) until August 2011.

 

The O'Farrell Government and Minister Hartcher in particular would do well to remember that any sense that meetings with Metgasco are conducted under old mates network rules should be avoided at all costs. 

 

 

NSW New regulations and administration

 

19 February 2013

 

The NSW Government has announced a range of new CSG policies and administrative processes. The details of these changes are not yet clear but they could have a significant impact on Metgasco’s Northern Rivers CSG operations. Metgasco understands that there will be a one month consultation process before the changes are finalised.

 

Metgasco has requested an urgent meeting with the NSW Government to better understand the changes and express our concern about the potential impact on Metgasco and NSW’s natural gas supply and business environment, including its manufacturing industry.

 

About Metgasco

The Natural Gas Company - Metgasco Limited

Our business is about finding, producing, marketing and delivering gas from natural gas reserves.  We are a natural gas company that is focused on developing the coal seam gas and conventionally trapped gas resources of the New South Wales Clarence Moreton basin. 

 

We have established a large natural gas reserve base and are in the process of converting our gas reserves into gas supplies delivered to customers.  Metgasco has grown its reserve base at a very low cost relative to other companies.  Our finding cost per gigajoule of 2P reserves is amongst the lowest in Australia.  This provides the basis for shareholder value creation in the future.

 

Richard Shields

Metgasco Limited

 

Mobile: 0418 418 877

SAVE OUR NATIONAL PARKS: Are NSW North Coast National Party MPs set to betray their electorates?

North East Forest Alliance

NORTHERN RIVERS MEMBERS REFUSE TO RULE OUT LOGGING NATIONAL PARKS

MEDIA RELEASE 11/2/2013

Conservation groups have established a Save Your National Parks website to provide information on north east NSW parks proposed for logging: http://saveparks.com.au/

The North East Forest Alliance is disappointed that the elected members for the Northern Rivers refused requests to express their support for retaining national parks in response to proposals to open them up for logging.

NEFA spokesperson, Dailan Pugh, said that having already voted to allow recreational shooters into most of our national parks it seems the Northern Rivers’ State elected representatives are going to stand aside again and allow them to be given to the loggers.

“The Forest Products Association are asking for over a million hectares of north-east NSW’s National Parks, Nature Reserves and State Conservation Areas to be made available for logging. So far they have identified over 100,000 hectares of 43 specific reserves they want revoked.

“In the Northern Rivers the loggers have so far singled out 12 reserves they want to be wholly or partially revoked for logging: Wollumbin, Mebbin, Nightcap, Goonengerry, Guy Fawkes River, Chaelundi, and Nymboi-Binderay National Parks, and Wollumbin, Whian Whian , Bungawalbin, Butterleaf, and Chaelundi State Conservation Areas.

“The O’Farrell Government is currently assessing the timber resources in these reserves with a view to opening them up for logging.

“These reserves encompass core habitat for an array of threatened plants and animals, rare ecosystems, rainforests of world heritage value, exceptional oldgrowth forests, and part of a wilderness. The loggers are also seeking the removal of protections for numerous stands of oldgrowth on state forests throughout the region.

“In mid December NEFA wrote to the four local members for the Northern Rivers, asking them if they support logging within, or revocation for logging of, any National Parks, Nature Reserves or State Conservation Areas on the far North Coast of NSW.

“NEFA told them that we intended to publicise their responses to their electors on the grounds that they have a right to know the position of their elected representatives.

“None of the four State members for the Northern Rivers indicated that they would oppose logging of national parks. Don Page replied that he had forwarded our request for his opinion to the Minister for the Environment Robyn Parker. This is the same Environment Minister who repeatedly refused to rule out allowing logging in national parks during a budget estimates hearing. She has not replied.

“Thomas George responded that until the Government considers an inter-departmental committee review into the timber supply situation on the north coast he is ‘not in a position to speculate on what those options might be or even speculate on what subsequent decisions might be made’.

“Christopher Gulaptis and Geoff Provest did not respond.

“We need local members who are prepared to stand up for the north coast and not stand aside while our national parks are given to the shooters and loggers. The electors of the Northern Rivers must assume that the Government members for Lismore, Clarence, Tweed and Ballina have no intention to stand up for the local national parks that this community had to struggle for decades to protect.

“If the Northern Rivers community wants to keep its national parks they are first going to have to convince their elected representatives that their jobs depend on not supporting proposals to log them” Mr. Pugh said.

Reserves explicitly identified by Forests Products Association for revocation:

Black Bulga State Conservation Area, Bongil Bongil National Park (part), Bungawalbin State Conservation Area (part), Butterleaf State Conservation Area, Chaelundi National Park (part), Chaelundi State Conservation Area (part), Columbey National Park, Copeland Tops State Conservation Area, Dorrigo National Park (part), Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park (part), Gir-um-bit National Park, Gir-um-bit State Conservation Area, Goonengerry National Park, Gumbaynggirr State Conservation Area, Guy Fawkes River National Park (part), Hunter Estuary National Park, Jilliby State Conservation Area, Karuah National Park, Karuah Nature Reserve (part), Lake Innes State Conservation Area, Lake Macquarie State Conservation Area (part), Mebbin National Park (part), Medowie Nature Reserve, Medowie State Conservation Area (part), Myall Lakes National Park (part), Nightcap National Park (part), Nowendoc National Park (part), Nymboi-Binderay National Park (part), Sugarloaf State Conservation Area, Queens Lake Nature Reserve (part), Queens Lake State Conservation Area, Sherwood Nature Reserve (part), Sugarloaf State Conservation Area, Tilligerry National Park, Tilligerry Nature Reserve (part), Tilligerry State Conservation Area, Tomaree National Park (part), Tuggalo Creek Nature Reserve, Watagans National Park, Werakata State Conservation Area, Whian Whian State Conservation Area, Wollumbin National Park, Wollumbin State Conservation Area.

Should any Northern Rivers voter wish to express an objection to this proposal then their MP may be contacted at the following:

The Hon. Thomas George, MP
55 Carrington Street
LISMORE NSW 2480

Postal
The Hon. Thomas George, MP
PO Box 52
Lismore NSW 2480
P (02) 6621 3624
F (02) 6622 1403
E lismore@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Mr Christopher Gulaptis, MP
11 Prince Street
GRAFTON NSW 2460 
P(02) 6642 7574 
F(02) 6642 7574
E clarence@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Mr Geoff Provest, MP
103 Minjungbal Drive
TWEED HEADS SOUTH NSW 2486 
P (07) 5523 4816 
F (07) 5523 4817
E tweed@parliament.nsw.gov.au

The Hon. Donald Page, MP
Shop 1
7 Moon Street
BALLINA NSW 2478
Postal
The Hon. Donald Page, MP
PO Box 1018
BALLINA NSW 2478
P (02) 6686 7522
F (02) 6686 7470
E ballina@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Minister for Local Government, and Minister for the North Coast
Level 33 Governor Macquarie Tower

1 Farrer Place

SYDNEY NSW 2000

P (02) 9228 3403
F (02) 9228 3442
E office@page.minister.nsw.gov.au

Has to be the worst ad placement yet

 

Taking a trip down memory lane @robboma3 posted this June 2008 UK article on Twitter ……

 

The '100 Dams' Proposal: So who do I believe - Abbott or Hogan?

 

Australian Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott remains determined to dam Australia. An aim he has expressed at various times over a period of years.

 

This policy has been one of the subjects in a speaker’s notes brief distributed to Coalition MPs in July 2012  and, now surfaces again as a conveniently leaked Coalition Dams and Water Management Task Group draft ‘consultation’ paper which has been two years in the making.

 

The leak as reported may be short on detail, however it is obvious that at least one wannabe water raider which has been eyeing off Clarence River Catchment fresh water has had some input concerning the recommendations found in this paper and the Clarence and Mann rivers are listed amongst the '100 dams'.

 

While APN Media Group reports:

 

* The News Limited report indicated most of the proposed dams had been flagged for northern Australia and would be used for irrigation in a bid to double the nation's food production.

But a number of projects are mooted for northern New South Wales, with water to be piped north to the Logan River in Queensland….

Reports revealed the paper - compiled after years of consultation by the conservative parties' Dams Taskforce - included five new dams in northern New South Wales…

* Byrrill Creek Dam is back on the agenda

* a draft discussion paper identifying Byrrill Creek and the Oxley River as potential dam sites.

A significant amount of work was done on the Byrrill Creek dam plan, but it was rejected by Tweed Shire Council in 2011.
"Now, more and more, we're getting people from that area saying we want to expand our water facilities," he [Barnaby Joyce] said.

 

That damming and diverting one or more of the NSW northern rivers is still on the Liberal and National Party agenda is beyond doubt, as in one form or another it surfaces at almost every state or federal inquiry into water security.

 

Yet the Nationals candidate for the seat of Page in the 2013 federal election, Kevin Hogan, tells us that none of the northern rivers are being considered by Abbott & Co for diversion to south east Queensland or the Murray Darling Basin.

 

However, rather curiously Hogan only rules out the creation of major dams – he makes no commitment to no new dams.

 

Which begs the question as to what Abbott and his Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Water Barnaby Joyce may have been privately promising those water hungry mining companies operating (or intending to operate) on the NSW North Coast when discussing infrastructure partnerships:

 

"Now some of these dams will require public funding and at the last election I had half a billion dollars put away in my portfolio as seed capital to this purpose.

Some of them will require private funding and ... myself and (my) chief of staff, Matt Canavan designed the infrastructure partnership scheme which is a mechanism to attract funds from private investment to invest in this nation building infrastructure.

Some of them don't need anything because in such areas as the mining industry they require water to get coal mines up and they'll build them."

After two years of 'investigation' and no community consultation Clarence River Catchment freshwater systems are once more on the table for futher dam construction.

If such a dam was not being considered as Mr. Hogan asserts, why was it included in the list of potential dam sites at all?