FIVE years ago, the state's Chief Scientist made a list of recommendations to the government about how it should regulate the coal seam gas industry to make it safe.
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But independent politician Justin Field says there is a suspicion in the community that the government had "only paid lip service" to the advice.
He's spearheading the inquiry, which will investigate if the 16 recommendations were properly implemented.
"The government has always claimed the recommendations have been implemented in full, but that's not the view of the community," Mr Field said.
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"Five years have passed since the Chief Scientist released recommendations for the CSG industry, so it makes sense to see if they've been followed.
"So much time has passed that we now have new ministers, a new planning process and new information about the gas industry."
Mr Field has introduced a private members' bill, which seeks to put in place a moratorium on all CSG projects until all the recommendations are put in place.
"I'm holding off debate on the bill until there is a response back from the inquiry," he said.
"The vote of some MPs may be influenced by the outcome. There are a lot of questions about how recommendations have been implemented."
Deputy Premier John Barilaro recently revealed the state government had ignored the recommendation to have a standing expert body to monitor the industry.
"The government decided to continue working closely with the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development rather than to establish a duplicate expert body," Mr Barliaro said in the budget estimates.
Lock the Gate spokesperson Georgina Woods said without the standing expert body, there was no independent oversight or safeguards to protect the groundwater of drought-affected communities.
"This is a big admission, particularly as the controversial and deeply unpopular Santos Narrabri gas field is expected to be referred to the Independent Planning Commission any day now," she said. "The NSW government has admitted its coal seam gas regulations are incomplete."
Public submissions to the inquiry are open until October 27, while a public hearing will be held in November.
Jamieson Murphy
Newcastle Herald news director. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Newcastle Herald news director. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
