Political Minefield: Gasfeilds Commission Signals CSG Push

Queensland’s NewMan Government continues its march towards the expansion of coal-seam gas (CSG) mining in Queensland, taking another quiet step towards the deregulation of mining across the state.

In a statement today, Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney announced the establishment of the Toowoomba-based Gasfields Commission to help restore voter confidence in the CSG industry, saying the Commission will not be “driven by political agenda and nor will it create more bureaucracy,” which would stand as one of the finest little-white-lies a politician has ever told.

“The Queensland Government fully supports the CSG industry, but it must live up to the world’s best practice and work with the community, landholders and the Government to achieve the best outcomes for the state,” said Mr Seeney today. “The Gasfields Commission will be established to restore confidence in the CSG industry and meet the needs of the communities involved with and affected by CSG growth in Queensland.”

Mr Seeney said the commission would be seeking representatives from the community to take part in the group.

“The group will comprise Chairman John Cotter and six commissioners to represent the community… For the next thirty days we will seek expressions of interest or nomination of commissioners and aim to have the Gasfields Commission up and running in three months.”

This comes as a sly move by the government, seeking interest and even participation by community members in larger country areas where mining would provide significant financial benefit, while lining up big-money mining projects to make deregulation seem all the more enticing to the community at large. Meanwhile, the Newman Government continues to push for de-regulation, or the so-called war on “green tape”, in an effort to make mining and exploration (“exploration” being a neat and only slightly misleading euphemism for “searching for places to dig more mines”) more enticing and profitable for mining companies in Queensland.

Mr Seeney has said that the Commission will engage with the newly established Gasfields Community Leaders Council, which is made up of local representatives, members of parliament, and representatives of the CSG industry, to ensure the community’s voice is heard.

“The Council will act as a direct voice to the Government to advise if Government programs and services match community priorities in CSG regions… It will be adapted to suit the expansion of the CSG industry and aim to have each major region represented in the Council,” said Deputy Premier Seeney.

There was an interesting phrase in there that I hope nobody missed, because it seems to fit with the NewMan Government’s agenda thus far:

“…Adapted to suit the expansion of the CSG industry.” Not the community, the CSG industry. And with the LNP’s overwhelming parliamentary majority, any suggestions or requests made by the community, the Commission or the GCLC can be unceremoniously dismissed while parliament legislates to turn everything west of Ipswich into one large mine-field.

It seems that the government is pushing ahead with its Mandate for Change and the path to Mordor seems clearer than ever.

Karl Anderson

Further reading here and here.