Energy minister Josh Frydenberg has supported farmers’ rights to reach agreement with mining companies on coal seam gas before resource development goes ahead, and will put the issue on the agenda for the Council of Australian Governments (Coag) energy council meeting.

Frydenberg said the federal government needed to ensure landholders’ rights were protected, even though farmers’ rights of veto over mining companies was a matter for state governments, as states owned the resources.

“We do need to ensure people’s rights are protected and their water resources are not adversely affected,” he told the ABC.

He said he would place the issue on the agenda when state and federal resource ministers met at the Coag energy council in December “so we can discuss how we share best practice and how we can outline key principles”.

The debate has gained momentum since the suicide of Queensland farmer George Bender, who was on the frontline of the battle against coal seam gas companies accessing land without the agreement of the landholder.

At issue is the law which says landholders own the topsoil, while the states own the resources underneath. This allows companies with mining rights to access the land.

Bender’s family has accused gas companies of “bullying” him for 10 years before he took his life, while the Queensland Resources Council accused anti-CSG activists of “hijacking” the debate after Bender’s death.

While much of the CSG development has occurred in Queensland, Frydenberg used the example of NSW practice, where gas companies Santos and AGL struck a voluntary landholder rights agreement with the NSW Farmers Association, the NSW Irrigators Council, Cotton Australia and the Country Women’s Association.

The agreement states that the landholder is “at liberty to say yes or no to the conduct of operations on their land”.

The agreement states that those two companies will not enter land or conduct operations where the landholder does not agree. And that all signatories condemn bullying, harassment and intimidation by “third party” groups and individuals.

“We want to see farmers and developers of the land reach an agreement,” Frydenberg said. “Clearly, where we are talking about prime agricultural land and water, we do need to protect those interests as well.”