Arguments that coal seam gas mining can't co-exist with agriculture and that it represents a grave threat to the future of rural Australia are at the heart of a complaint lodged today by Lock The Gate.
The Alliance has lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Bureau against the coal seam gas industry advertising campaign 'We Want CSG'.
"We have taken the step this week of lodging a complaint against the coal seam gas advertisements from the gas industry because we don't want to see the community hoodwinked by phoney claims" said Drew Hutton, President of Lock The Gate Alliance.
"This multi-million dollar advertising campaign is a slap in the face to rural communities who are living in fear of the impacts on their farms, their health and their water resources.
"This industry will turn our rural landscapes into industrial zones, threaten our best food producing land and put at risk the future of our greatest inland water resource, the Great Artesian Basin.
"The main points that we made in our complaint were:
- There is no partnership agreement between farmers and miners – farmers are forced by the law to accept access agreements against their will or otherwise face being hauled into court
- The coal seam gas produced by mining in Australia is not going to power the city of Sydney for 1,000 years – it is going to be shipped to China in bulk carriers until supply is exhausted
- Mining will not breathe new life into country towns – the gas rush is disadvantaging other industries who can't compete for employees and leading to social disruption from a fly-in workforce.
"The community is locked in a David and Goliath battle against a cashed up industry that thinks it can change public sentiment by spreading phoney claims.
"The fact is that Australians are smarter than that – we don't want this industry and we won't accept the risks it poses no matter how much they spin it.
The Lock The Gate Alliance is going to hold this industry account no matter what it takes, and we will look to pursue further avenues against their phoney advertising campaign " he said.