The Liverpool Plains is often referred to as Australia’s food bowl, but beneath its highly-productive soils are rich deposits of coal and coal seam gas worth many billions of dollars.
This lecture provides an overview of the conflicting interests of agriculture and mining in sensitive landscapes such as the Liverpool Plains, and identifies the failures of the planning system to minimise the risk of permanently damaging our best land.
It also discusses the recent signing of a national partnership agreement between the Federal Government and the eastern states on coal seam gas and large coal mining development, which provides for the establishment of an independent expert scientific committee.
The lecture will outline how researchers will map the environmental values of sensitive regions, and then assess the impact of proposed coal or coal seam gas developments both individually and also cumulatively across several projects.
Key to restoring the public’s trust will be the independence of the committee and the way its recommendations are integrated into the state planning system.
RSVPs essential via http://www.eventbrite.com.au/event/4195677384
Further information from Mitchell Piercey on mitchell.piercey@science.org.au
Resolving the conflict between agriculture and mining by Tony Windsor MP
Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Canberra
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