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April 2nd, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Updated
Federal Independent MP Tony Windsor says he is concerned coal seam gas projects could have been rushed through without proper governmental oversight.
On last night’s Four Corners program, whistleblower Simone Marsh revealed that in 2010 she and her colleagues were not given enough time or basic information to assess two southern Queensland projects worth $38 billion.
Ms Marsh was working for Queensland’s Department of Infrastructure and Planning at the time.
Four Corners obtained documents under Right to Information laws which show the approval process was rushed, and that commercial considerations were put ahead of the environment.
Both projects were deemed to be of state-wide significance and were being overseen by Queensland’s Coordinator-General.
Mr Windsor says he is concerned other projects could have been prematurely approved by other governments.
“We need to go back, get the baseline information, base the approval process on science and risk, not on the capacity of the government to absorb a deficit or a surplus at the time, and then make those decisions based on those parameters,” he said.
He says rigorous independent research needs to be done to ensure the industry is safe, because governments have vested interests in the approvals process.
“They’ve got no real background in those sorts of things, so the push is for the development,” he said.
“Obviously when all of those things come into play, there’s a move towards pushing those things through rather than getting the proper scientific advice put into place.”
The Greens are calling for an immediate freeze on CSG mining and exploration, saying miners are “essentially writing their own permits”.
“Four Corners last night made very clear to all Australians just how inadequate the scientific base has been for the approval that has been given by state governments and the Federal Government for ongoing coal seam gas,” Greens leader Christine Milne said.
“This is the end of the fossil fuel age and we should not be driving a new fossil fuel industry at this time.”
Rick Wilkinson, from industry representative the Australian Petroleum, Production and Exploration Association, is satisfied the approval process for the two Queensland projects was appropriate.
“I think it’s right and proper that there should be whistleblowers, and if something is not right then they should raise it,” he said.
“But I’m confident, from what I’ve seen, that the right processes were followed and there were many checks and balances on the way through.”
The electorate of Maranoa in southern Queensland covers the western Darling Downs, including the Tara gas fields.
Call for investigation
Maranoa’s federal MP Bruce Scott, says that although industry regulations have changed, Ms Marsh’s claims should be investigated.
“Those very early days, I’ve got to say, the regulations were certainly not sustainable and not, in my view, ones that would stand up to scrutiny,” he said.
“The claims that have been made on Four Corners should be investigated, particularly the whistleblower, to make sure that there hasn’t been something that’s been approved that should have at least had greater peer review.”
Howard Hobbs, the state-based MP for the same area, agrees.
“Most of the things that the previous Labor government did were based on incompetence in a lot of ways,” he said.
“However, saying that, I do believe there was a certain amount of rigour in the assessment process for the CSG industry. There probably could have been more.”
But Mr Hobbs says the approvals should stand.
“Sometimes you can’t unscramble the egg, to a certain degree. The approvals have been given, lawfully given,” he said.
A spokesman for Campbell Newman says the Queensland Premier welcomes Ms Marsh discussing her concerns about botched approvals.
But Mr Newman has stopped short of ordering an updated environmental impact study on the now-operational projects.
The Crime and Misconduct Commission is assessing the claims.
The Four Corners program prompted a flurry of activity on social media last night.
One of the companies, QGC, whose assessment was questioned took to Twitter to defend itself:
All Qld gas companies did significant work on impact of water production on aquifers & bores before approvals sought #4corners #CSG #auspol
– QGC (@QGCinfo) April 1, 2013
Farmers use >50% of groundwater; miners <4%: who’s kidding who? #4corners #CSG #auspol @robsel1 http://goo.gl/k74Il
– QGC (@QGCinfo) April 1, 2013
The Four Corners program “Gas Leak” aired on ABC 1 on Monday.
Topics:
oil-and-gas,
industry,
business-economics-and-finance,
government-and-politics,
states-and-territories,
environmentally-sustainable-business,
environmental-impact,
environmental-management,
mining-environmental-issues,
roma-4455,
tara-4421,
qld,
toowoomba-4350
First posted
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-02/senior-lnp-member-wants-csg-probe/4604324
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