Protest organiser Innes Larkin, at the site yesterday, says 'there are some people here who we've got to keep a close eye on'. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen. Source: The Australian
A COAL-SEAM gas company facing a week-long blockade in farmland south of Brisbane has refused to deal with travelling protest groups that they say have a broader agenda than the concerns of local landowners.
The standoff at Arrow Energy's exploratory drilling site at Kerry, 80km south of Brisbane, has reached a stalemate, with protesters refusing to leave the blockade to negotiate with company representatives who have proposed a meeting in the nearby town of Beaudesert.
Arrow Energy vice-president of exploration Tony Knight accepted that protesters had valid questions about the company's drilling but did not want to attend the protest site because local issues would be subsumed in the broader nationwide debate over coal-seam gas mining.
"If I were to go to the site then that would only encourage stunts among some protesters. We want a serious discussion focused on issues about this land here. You can't take issues from another area to here," he said.
Read More
The Australian
No comments:
Post a Comment