Australia should avoid rushing into extracting coal seam gas until science proves it's a risk-free source of energy, federal independent MP Tony Windsor says.
Mr Windsor, who sits on a House of Representatives panel on CSG and coal mining, said mining giant Santos's takeover of an Eastern Star Gas exploration project, at the Pilliga state forests, in northern NSW, had showed there were still unanswered questions about safety of CSG extraction.
Santos found more than 20 cases of pollution, including leaks and spills, which had occurred under Eastern Star management.
It reported them to the NSW government earlier this year.
"There were something like 21 issues ... failures of the system in the exploration phase, this is not the production phase," Mr Windsor told an ABC Radio National forum.
"People are quite rightly asking questions."
Mr Windsor, who represents the rural northern NSW seat of New England, said that if CSG mining were to occur in future, initial production should be kept away from prime farmland.
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Business Spectator
Editor's Note: Funny how this article has appeared just after Mr Windsor has announced he will be contesting his seat at the next election. The people's memories are long Mr Windsor...
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