The NSW Government’s recommendation that Wollongong Coal’s Russell Vale extension be granted is proof the assessment process in the state is utterly broken, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.

The Morrison Government’s long-feared “gas-fired recovery” will lead to the destruction of more farmland, the further draining and contamination of underground water, and will disrupt the lives of many regional and rural Australians, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.

The gas industry’s “blueprint” would destroy thousands of hectares of farmland and drain underground water sources, thereby harming regional and rural communities around the country if it was implemented, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.

Lock the Gate Alliance has renewed its call for an immediate moratorium on new coal seam gas drilling and the granting of exploration licences in Queensland following disturbing revelations about the impact the industry is having on farmland on the state’s Western Downs.

The Palaszczuk Government’s new mine rehabilitation policy has failed its first test after multinational company Idemitsu was able to successfully apply to leave damaging pit voids on the Nogoa River floodplain at its Ensham coal mine near Emerald.