Tony Abbott the Federal Opposition leader said that he would not support a moratorium on coal seam gas exploration in New South Wales till he was persuaded that miners were playing fast and loose with the environment. This was in response to the indigenous group that is gearing up for a fight against coal seam gas in the state.
Liberal party leader Tony Abbot made his statement after a 110 km cycle ride as part of the annual Pollie Pedal event from the Gold Coast to Kyogle. He rode with 70 fellow cyclists in the event and said that the focus was on protecting the environment. He added that it was wrong to assume that miners were environmental vandals.
Mr Abbot said that the miner have an interest in this as mining companies but miners are human beings and citizens as well as miners. So this idea that the miners are just out to rape and pillage the land was wrong as per his thinking.
An indigenous activist has called for the moratorium on coal seam gas development in Queensland’s Gulf county. Carpentaria Land Council spokesman, Murandoo Yanner said that Armour Energy intended to explore for petroleum and gas in the land that is under native title near Doomadgee and Burketown and they had not consulted the traditional owners of the land.
He has pledged to delay the development until concerns of the owners are not addressed. He said it was similar to what he did with the Century Mine proposal in the 1990s. He said that they were experienced battlers against development like this.