19th Mar 2014, 4:01 PM – Senate Motions - Coal Seam Gas - Stop further approvals

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Larissa Waters, which means that it was rejected.

The motion was:

That the Senate-

(a) notes:

(i) recent revelations of threats to water from the unconventional gas industry, including water contamination with uranium at 20 times the safe level, at coal seam gas company Santos' Pilliga operations,(Read more about this contamination here. )

(ii) recent reports of contamination of groundwater by asbestos contained in drilling fluids at Origin's coal seam gas operations in Queensland, and(Read more about this asbestos scare here.)

(iii) the important role of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development in advising on project impacts and conducting bioregional groundwater assessments; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) not issue any further approvals for unconventional gas mining under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act),

(ii) suspend all existing unconventional gas approvals,

(iii) maintain the funding for the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development,

(iv) expand the federal protection for water under the EPBC Act to include shale gas and tight gas mining, and

(v) retain federal powers to protect water from coal seam gas, rather than seeking to delegate these to state governments.