Strong opposition to CSG at Coonamble forum
HUNDREDS turned out for a protest meeting in Coonamble last weekend and the powerbrokers in Sydney’s Macquarie Street must be quivering in their boots.
Coal Seam Gas (CSG) is set to be a flashpoint issue at next year’s state election and the party that stands to cop the heat is the Nationals.
The traditional choice of vote for farmers and graziers, the Nats have to choose between upsetting their voting heartland, many of whom believe CSG threatens the underground and river water supplies, or losing the backing of the resource multinationals.
Labor MLC Daniel Mookhey called through Dubbo on his way to the forum; Coonamble is based in the seat of Barwon held by The Nationals’ Kevin Humphries, and Mr Mookhey is the “duty MLC” for the ALP, tasked to look after that vast region.
He believes Coal Seam Gas is going to play a critical role in the seat’s regional politics.
“It’s a huge flashpoint, it’s one of the most polarising issues in Australian politics,” Mr Mookhey told Dubbo Photo News.
“I first visited Coonamble maybe three years ago and I was walking down the main street and I was talking to as many people and small business owners as I could. It was like I was in the City of Sydney, (judging by) the level of opposition to CSG.
“What I was utterly struck by was that the people saying ‘no’ to CSG were not the hip-py/greenies they were being accused of being, coming in from the coast and telling the lo-cal people what to do – they were seventh generation farmers,” he said.
Mr Mookhey said many farmers told him they’ve voted National all their lives but never will again, claiming the party has backed mining at the expense of agriculture at the urging of their senior coalition partner, the Liberals.
Mr Mookhey met with Health Rivers Ambassador Melissa Gray during his stay, discussing water theft allegations and the fate of the Macquarie and Barwon/darling Rivers along with the world heritage listed Macquarie Marshes.
“All irrigators have been tarred with the same brush when, in truth, it’s a few bad apples doing the wrong thing,” Mr Mookhey said.
“We have to get to the bottom of what’s happened with any theft of water to restore the trust that’s evaporated when it comes to irrigators, and equally we take action against peo-ple who have broken the law,” he added.
According to Ms Gray, “Historically the entire basin has been over-allocated so there are tiers of issues – the water just isn’t there.
“Before this, our water storage was the Macquarie Marshes which meant the Macquarie was often connected to the Barwon. Now all that water is held in Burrendong Dam so it’s at the wrong end of the catchment,” she said.