6th Mar 2014, 12:31 PM – Senate Motions - Lock the Gate Alliance - Act on concerns of the Alliance

The majority voted against acting on the concerns of Lock the Gate (see the text of the motion below).

Text of the motion

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the serious concern shared by communities and experts across Australia about the significant risks coal and gas developments pose to our communities, public health, water resources and natural areas, and

(ii) that in the week beginning 2 March 2014, a delegation of 16 community representatives from the Lock the Gate network have travelled to Canberra from across the nation, seeking the support of their elected representatives to protect their communities, their water and their land; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to urgently act on the concerns of the Lock the Gate network by:

(i) passing national laws to protect food-producing land from coal and gas mining and give landholders the power of veto over mining on their land,

(ii) protecting communities by establishing a national Environmental Protection Authority and a new Clean Air and Water Act; and

(iii) excluding from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement any clause or instrument that undermines the power of Australian governments to protect land, water and communities.