I heartily concur with the sentiments of Jan Bryan in her letter titled “who is he calling extremists”, NDL Letters, 10/07.
I have serious misgivings about the impact of coal seam gas (CSG) on our prime agricultural land and the aquifers below.
If my concerns equal “extremism” then I’m perfectly happy to wear that cap thank you very much.
You can’t tell me that after just 16 months of this new State government they have confirmation that the science is right and CSG practices are safe for our environment.
The State Opposition were no better in government either because they were pleased to issue exploration licences without concern for the land they were being issued and now the State government has to deal with the mess.
Furthermore I believe the state’s dash to switch on the CSG green light is inconsistent with the Senate’s interim report: The Impact of Mining Coal Seam Gas on the Management of the Murray Darling Basin, issued November 30, 2011.
We were told that our state may suffer a natural gas shortage and hence the reason why we need to develop our own natural gas supply, but when are the people of NSW ever going to enjoy a cheap natural gas supply?
Like electricity prices, they aren’t. It will be exported to the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of India.
As for our primary producers, or at least those that want to continue to eke out an existence in their chosen industry and keep feeding us, they have both CSG companies and coal mining companies to deal with, as well as a now apparently ambivalent State Coalition government, which is sad.
I understand the frustration of voters when politicians and would-be governments promise the world and deliver the opposite in a cynical vote-buying exercise to get elected. If you make a promise then you must do cartwheels to deliver. It is as simple as that.
There were promises made before the election to quarantine prime agricultural farmland there was never any ambiguity in that. It didn’t mean that CSG should be imposed on the farmers, making a gas field of the whole north-west. Perhaps I don’t know the meaning of a promise.
I am conservative and have voted accordingly since 1987 when I could first vote. If my views on CSG mining are now considered unsatisfactory then I am pleased to wear the label of an “extremist” there too, but I think it is a serious mistake to label people in that manner particularly when you see the demographics of the people at public meetings.
MARK RODDA
TAMWORTH