Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to note my community's opposition to coal seam gas mining on the North Coast of New South Wales. I would like to state in this House that our community's view is extremely clear. We want coal seam gas mining stopped on the North Coast. The concerns are not only, of course, the environmental impacts upon our region but also the health impacts. There is no doubt that this is a major issue right across the North Coast. I note that my colleague the member for Page has brought this issue up on many occasions. We are very united in our fight against the New South Wales Liberal-National government in stopping coal seam gas mining on the North Coast.

As I have been saying repeatedly of late, I am calling upon those state National Party members—the member for Lismore, the member for Tweed and the member for Ballina—to actually start doing their job and go and see Premier Barry O'Farrell and tell him that the people of the North Coast do not want coal seam gas mining. The fact is that the state government regulates and licences coal seam gas mining, and they can stop it; they can do that. I will certainly join with the community and keep working very closely with everyone in keeping the pressure on our state MPs and also on the New South Wales Liberal-National government to finally take some action. All we have seen from those state MPs on the North Coast is absolute silence and total inaction. Well, they had better start listening and they had better start going to see Premier Barry O'Farrell, because the people of the North Coast have spoken very loudly and clearly. I stand with them in calling for a ban on coal seam gas mining on the New South Wales North Coast.