RIOT police will be needed to deal with the fallout of the NSW Government's back-flip on its election pledge to protect the state's water supply from mining interference, North Coast environmental activist Ian Gaillard has warned.
The Lock the Gate spokesman believes the State Government "sold out the groundwater of NSW" to the coal seam gas industry and has put the Premier on notice to expect the most significant protest action in the state's history in response.
Last week, NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazaard unveiled the latest version of the government's aquifer interference policy at a farming forum in Sydney.
In the lead-up to the last state election, a draft of the policy was released in an attempt to reassure voters the coalition would put stringent measures in place to protect sensitive land and water supplies from CSG.
The current version, however, provides a loophole for companies making applications for significant mining developments of "agricultural or environmental value" to by pass the strict vetting process.
Instead, they simply will be asked to follow the (non legally binding) "advice" given to them by Water Minister Katrina Hodgkinson.
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Daily Examiner
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