Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull openly stated he wanted the 850-well coal seam gas development in the Pilliga forest to get the green light to help ease the nation’s gas shortage.

“We strongly encourage the NSW Government to approve the development of the Narrabri Gas Project, for example,” Mr Turnbull said.

“That is critical to the energy security of Australia.”

It is understood that Mr Turnbull believes the approval process for Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project has been too drawn out and he wants NSW authorities to fast-track a decision, despite the project attracting almost 23,000 submissions and record number of objections.

A final ruling on the project will be made by the independent Planning Assessment Commission.

Lock the Gate says instead of attacking farmers, the Turnbull government should be “cracking down on the big gas companies”, who were “ripping off domestic customers by funnelling our gas overseas”.

“State gas regulations are in place because farmers across the country have been forced to stand up and protect their livelihoods and the food they produce for us all,” spokeswoman Naomi Hogan said.

“The federal government and gas companies could take simple, urgent action to bring down prices tomorrow, and yet they are using Australian food growers and local communities as a scapegoat for their failed gas export experiment.”

In NSW there is a ban on BTEX chemicals used in fracking, as well as bans on CSG exploration within two kilometres of residential areas and in key horse breeding and viticulture areas.

NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin said the state’s gas plan was science-based and approval process for the Narrabri project was ongoing.

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher welcomed the Prime Minister’s comments, but said the company recognised the “important role the [NSW government] process will play in ensuring a robust and thorough assessment”.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said he would pull the gas trigger if forced to, but was hesitant to do so, as it was “an interference in the market space”. The gas trigger would limit gas exports, drawing more gas back into the domestic market.

In his state of the nation address on Monday, Mr Joyce stressed the importance of available gas, pointing to the proposed Narrabri project.

“If we got access to that gas out there this place [Tamworth] would boom,” he said.

The Wilderness Society said the Prime Minister should know from past experience that interfering with the independent approval process can lead to further delays.

National director Lyndon Schneiders said Mr Turnbull was the Environment Minister in the Howard government, which was responsible for the “environmental approval of the failed Gunns Pulp Mill” in Tasmania.

“[He] should know better than anyone that political and corporate pressure on fast-tracking environmental approvals only entrenches community opposition to projects and further damages the social licence of those companies who gain outcomes through overt political pressure,” Mr Schneiders said.

“He should back off and use the tools already at his disposal to divert export gas into the domestic market.

“The NSW Government needs to stand up to the federal bullying and allow the approvals process to be conducted independently and be able to properly go through all the thousands of objections.”

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW said Premier Gladys Berejiklian must not bow to the pressure.

“Mr Turnbull’s intervention yesterday is his latest attempt to divert attention from his government’s lack of coherent climate and energy policy,” the organisations CEO Kate Smolski said.

“First we had an ad hoc announcement of a Snowy Hydro 2.0 feasibility study. Then a thought bubble that ‘old lady’ Liddell should continue to pollute for five years beyond its scheduled closure date.

“Now he is pushing for more coal seam gas that won’t be operational for years.

“Given the federal government won’t act to introduce sensible climate and energy policy, Premier Berejiklian must.”

NSW Greens resources spokesman Jeremy Buckingham rebuffed Mr Turnbull’s call for the project to be approved, saying that the industry did not have a social licence and even if it was approved it would not solve a gas crisis created by policy failure to protect the domestic gas market from unregulated exports.

“For years now the citizens of NSW have made it clear that coal seam gas does not have a social licence to operate and political parties of all persuasions have listened to this message to varying degrees,” Mr Buckingham said.

“This is a crisis forged by greedy multinational oil and gas companies, with successive Labor and Liberal-National governments failing to properly regulate gas exports despite repeated warnings from the manufacturing industry, unions and the Greens. 

“Even if the Narrabri gas project was approved tomorrow, it will face fierce opposition and direct action from concerned farmers and others, it will be several years before the gas will hit the market, and the relatively small amount of gas will have no impact on the international gas price which is now dominating the domestic market.”

“Santos welcomes the comments by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project is critical to energy security.

“The Narrabri project is an important opportunity to supply a substantial share of New South Wales gas needs.

“The gas from the Narrabri Gas Project will be made available to the domestic market to support the more than 1 million homes, 33,000 businesses and 300,000 jobs that rely on natural gas as a source of energy in NSW.

“Santos has invested significant capital and spent almost 10 years trying to develop the Narrabri project.

“We are now working through the approvals process with the NSW Government. We recognise the important role this process will play in ensuring a robust and thorough assessment.

“Santos has the track record and expertise required to safely and sustainably develop the Narrabri project and deliver clean energy to NSW for many years to come.”