THE government’s recent moves to protect the Liverpool Plains from mining has many asking if coal seam gas will be next on the agenda.
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BHP Billiton was paid $220m to give up its Caroona exploration licence and the government has begun discussion with Shenhua to reduce the size of its Breeza coal mine.
Gas giant Santos has plans to drill one to four core holes in its Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 1 site, which covers a large part of the Liverpool Plains.
However, The Leader understands there have been no negotiations between the company and the government about a buy back of PEL 1.
Greens MP and the party’s mining spokesperson, Jeremy Buckingham, said the community had an expectation coal seam gas would be next.
“The key thing is the government has created a precedent that agriculture and water resource are more important that fossil fuels,” Mr Buckingham said.
“It’s time for the government to end the battle and provide certain to the community, so it can get on with planning a sustainable, economic future.”
Mr Buckingham said many of the CSG licences in the region had expired and could be cancelled at anytime.
“There wouldn’t have to be a pay out – if a company hasn’t met the conditions of the original approval, the government can cancel it without compensation,” he said.
“That’s a reality of capitalism. The reward for risk is profit. Sometimes things don’t come off and the community shouldn’t be expected to carry the burden for stupid business decisions.”
Just because a licence is expired doesn’t mean it has been cancelled.
The company can apply to renew the licence and must show they’ve fulfilled its obligations.
Lock the Gate spokeswoman Georgina Wood said the renewal process was “pretty generous” with application deadlines.
“If a licence is expired it doesn’t mean they can’t use it, there is no stop on action,” Ms Wood said.
She wants new laws to protect strategic agricultural land from mining.
Santos has lodged a renewal application for PEL 1 and says all its licences remain in full effect.