Fractured: furious miners slam state Liberals
South Australia’s mining industry has launched a furious attack on the state Liberal Party after it announced it would move next week to establish a Parliamentary inquiry into the safety of fracking in the south-east.
The SA Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) accused the state Liberals of breaking a long tradition of bipartisan support for the resources industry.
Chamber chief executive Jason Kuchel said today the Liberals were “playing into the hands of a minority group of hardcore Green activists” and the whole of the business community should be alarmed at the party’s behaviour.
“This action is nothing short of irresponsible and the whole of the business community in South Australia should be alarmed at an inquiry which, whilst nothing more than a political sideshow, will broadly discourage investment into the only growth industry in this state,” he said.
The inquiry, a Liberal election promise, is being championed by Mt Gambier Liberal MP Troy Bell, who will move a motion in Parliament next week to establish the investigation into the unconventional gas industry.
However, the inquiry looks doomed in the Lower House, with independent minister Geoff Brock rejecting the idea this morning. To succeed, the motion would need the support of both Brock and fellow independent Martin Hamilton-Smith.
“A parliamentary inquiry sends completely the wrong message to the resources sector and could well drive away future investment opportunities in our regions,” Brock told InDaily.
“An inquiry will place in jeopardy future economic growth in our regions, particularly in the south-east. I’m about creating job opportunities and growing our regional economy. We also have a strong regulatory system with built-in safeguards to protect the environment.”
Hamilton-Smith would not comment.
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At the moment, there is only exploration drilling in the south-east and SACOME says that hydraulic fracture stimulation – or fracking – has not yet been proposed for the region.
The technique has been used in South Australia since 1969, mostly in the Cooper Basin.
It has attracted great controversy in the US and in the eastern states of Australia, particularly when used to extract coal seam gas. Farmers and environmental activists have raised concerns about its impact on the environment, including seepage of gas into groundwater.
Liberal mining spokesperson Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the motion to establish the inquiry would fulfil an election promise.
However, he said it would not be a “witch hunt” and he was sure it would calm people’s fears about unconventional gas extraction.
He said the fears of south-east people were based on coal seam gas extraction, which isn’t proposed for the region.
“It’s very important that the local community has the opportunity to put forward all of the concerns that they have,” he told InDaily.
“I think it’s also very, very likely that many of those concerns will be able to be addressed by the inquiry.
“A lot of the concerns that the community has are based on very disappointing outcomes that have occurred in other places overseas. They are not based on how the SA industry operates.”
As an example, he said that in South Australia’s Cooper Basin, more than 1000 fracks had occurred in more than 700 wells “and not once has there been any contamination of underground water”.
Van holst Pellekaan said the terms of reference would specify an examination of the risks of fracking to groundwater, its potential impact on existing land uses, and whether the current legislative framework was sufficient to deal with any concerns.
The Liberals voted down a Green proposal to establish a similar inquiry. Van holst Pellekaan said that inquiry was clearly designed to damage the mining industry.
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While he was clearly attempting to calm the debate, Van holst Pellekaan indicated the inquiry’s outcome would affect his views on the industry.
He said he wouldn’t support the unconventional gas industry operating in the south-east if the inquiry found it to be unsafe.
“If it was proven to be unsafe I would (want it shut down),” he said.
Bell told ABC south-east that he hoped Parliament would support the motion.
“It is important that the Parliament is able to hear from all stakeholders about this issue and that the community has an appropriate forum to raise their concerns,” he said.
He said he had been in discussions with Brock and Hamilton-Smith for the past few weeks and would be seeking their support.
“I am certain of Martin’s support given this is the policy he developed prior to the election,” he said.
“I am equally confident that Geoff Brock, as Regional Development Minister, will support the south-east community being listened to regarding the future of land use.”
Kuchel said the industry had been “open and transparent with the community” about the drilling program in the south-east.
“Beach Energy has undertaken, and will continue to undertake, extensive community and industry consultation,” he said.
If fracture stimulation was proposed, all potentially affected stakeholders would have the opportunity for input through the consultation requirements of the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said Opposition Leader Steven Marshall should explain “why his party is turning its back on the resources industry”.
“The Liberal Party are letting Holden close its doors, letting our subs be built in another country and now they want to turn their back on an industry that employs thousands of South Australians and invests billions of dollars in our State,” Koutsantonis said.
“An inquiry would put those jobs and billions of dollars in investment at risk.”
He said the State Government “will not go down the path of the Victorian and New South Wales conservative governments who have shut their doors to the oil and gas industry”.
“We will continue to be guided by evidence-based arguments in developing our deep gas resources in this State rather than succumb to emotion and scare mongering.”
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