QUEENSLAND Treasurer Andrew Fraser has urged coal-seam gas producers to work harder to secure a "social licence" for their operations, describing public antipathy towards the industry as "a tragedy".
Mr Fraser also attacked the "absolutism" and "hypocrisy" of the Greens and the environmental movement in campaigning against CSG when it was produced with lower carbon emissions than coal and was a viable transition fuel to greater use of renewable energy.
The Treasurer's comments, in an interview with The Australian in Brisbane yesterday, follow publication of a Newspoll showing 40 per cent of Queenslanders oppose CSG extraction, while 33 per cent are in favour and 27 per cent undecided.
While projects worth at least $15 billion are planned for Queensland, there is widespread community concern about the effect of its extraction on groundwater, led by fears from environmentalists and community groups in areas subject to development proposals.
Mr Fraser said the industry could one day be seen as having been as important to Queensland's economic history as development of the Bowen Basin coalfields in the 1970s. But he said the industry needed to do more to tell its story to local communities.
The Australian
Editor's Note: This is just so typical of the current Bligh Government who has no idea about the ramifications on CSG Mining. 24 March is looming ... and our memories are LONG!
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