Chris Oldfield, Naracoorte Community News
The Liberal Shadow Cabinet will continue to support a moratorium on fracking in the SE which runs until 2028. It will also continue to work on land access through agricultural properties to mines because “both agriculture and mining are important to the economy”.
During the recent Shadow Cabinet forum in Naracoorte, the issue was raised by Stewarts Range farmer and Naracoorte resident Heather Heggie who called on the Opposition to continue to protect “our air, soil and water”.
Referring to the gas fields of the SE, she said a driller had told her it was “a very saline, hot environment (deep underground) and nothing, no protection, can stop the leaking”.
“And, it has just come out that the pipes are leaking in some fracking fields over in the eastern States,” Ms Heggie said.
She also referred to a November 2018 stance by four rural MPs, praising Member for MacKillop Nick McBride who was one of them.
They wanted farmers to be able to “veto” mining exploration on their land and crossed the floor against their own party’s debate on amendments to the Mining Act.
“I was very pleased when Nick crossed the floor,” Ms Heggie said.
“That was a highlight for the SE.” She said the community was passionate about defending themselves from any sort of possible contamination.
“I would like to see a very strict rein kept on mining in the SE because I know that (mining companies) can be more powerful that governments with their influence and their money,” she said.
“I want you to look after our air, soil and water and keep the bad guys out, thank you.”
Opposition Leader David Speirs said “thanks for that, and of course yes, Nick did cross the floor, we were happy to be reminded of that”.
He explained what would happen if a Labor Member crossed the floor against their own party and described it as the single biggest difference between Liberal and Labor.
He said in the Liberal Party an MP could say: “I don’t think my community would like that …”.
“So you can reserve your right to cross the floor or abstain and you can’t do that in the Labor Party,” Mr Speirs said.
He explained the issue that Mr McBride and three other Liberal colleagues crossed the floor on, then highlighted the 10-year moratorium on fracking in the SE.
Shadow Mining and Energy Minister Stephen Patterson said the 10-year moratorium on fracking was one of the first pieces of legislation that the former Liberal Government put forward after being elected in 2018.
“There is a lot of commentary around gas at the moment,” said Mr Patterson, explaining how Liberals were under attack for that moratorium and policy by Labor.
“Gas is important to the economy. But in terms of extracting that gas, there’s certainly ways that it can be done conventionally – that don’t require fracking – here in the SE.”
Mr Patterson said in terms of land access, that was something to work on and a work in progress.
“The balance we need to get right in the state is the fact that agriculture is vitally important to our economy, and so is mining,” he said.
“So that’s where those two (industries) clash and collide together and we need to continually look at ways we can better manage land access.
“It’s impossible to think that all parties are going to be happy, but we have to do it in a respectful manner, where there’s some form of standards that are put in place such that everyone is treated with respect.”
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
