Petroleum (Onshore) Amendment Bill 2013 24 June 2013 On 22 May, Energy and Resources Minister Chris Hartcher introduced the Petroleum (Onshore) Amendment Bill 2013 into the NSW Legislative Assembly. The Bill’s object is to strengthen the compliance and enforcement framework for petroleum and mining operations, but there are considerable concerns with how some of the Bill’s provisions would operate. Fundamentally, the Bill still fails to rule out coal seam gas exploration from farmland, water catchments and sensitive environmental areas, and does not give landholders the right to ‘lock the gate’ to coal seam gas companies. On 28 May the Government rapidly pushed the Bill through the Legislative Assembly. Only Greens MP Jamie Parker (supported by Independent Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich) moved amendments, aimed at giving landholders the right to ‘lock the gate’ to invasive coal seam gas and coal exploration. On 29 May the Bill was slated to be voted on by the Legislative Council but has since been delayed due to overwhelming community opposition until the August sitting of Parliament. This provides the community an opportunity to urge the Government and Legislative Council MPs to improve the Bill before it is voted on in August. The Bill is available here. Please submit your comments!! bit.ly/14Awcuy
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 22:35:47 +0000