RURAL lobby group Agforce has accused the Queensland Government of not looking after the interests of the individual against the power of multinational coal and gas companies.

Agforce president Grant Maudsley said “it was a furphy’’ to say the Government’s regulations on land use protected farmers.

The lobby group is likely to use the election campaign to highlight issues, particularly the Newman Government’s Regional Planning Act.

“These mines might be going for 30 years but the impacts are longer,’’ he said.

“At the end of the day it is about individuals being impacted unfairly. They are definitely not sharing in the spoils.’’

His comments follow years of massive expansion of the coal and CSG industries and new laws which severely limit the right to legal objection against resource development.

That came to a head just before Christmas when the Government gave approval to New Hope’s Acland coal mine expansion, near Oakey.

Despite significant improvements to the original proposal, the project has outraged landholders and activists because of its impact on high-quality farm land.

Originally published as Farmers: Govt has deserted us