Australia’s coal seam gas industry risks a major environmental incident in its rush to expand without proper scientific oversight and controls, former federal independent Tony Windsor said.

“We seem to be hell-bent on pushing these industries in these high risk areas without due knowledge of the consequences,” Mr Windsor said. “We should slow this thing down ... and then make the decisions based on independent science and risk.”

A protest against coal seam gas. Credit:Andrew Meares

Mr Windsor, who secured Gillard government backing a year ago for a so-called “water trigger” to be added to federal approval powers for big mining projects, said a serious contamination of the Namoi groundwater system or other aquifers would “throw a blanket over other regions where the risks are much lower”.

The former New England MP, whose support helped secure the Gillard government in office after the 2010 elections, will on Tuesday help launch an Australia Institute report, Fracking the future: Busting industry myths about coal seam gas.



The report includes an online survey of 1404 respondents in November, which found 56 per cent want more regulation of the CSG industry, with only 7 per cent wanting less.