Turnbull government ministers say farmers’ right to determine what happens on their land should not be trumped by laws that give companies access

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Coalition government is asking miners and coal seam gas companies to recognise that the “moral right” of farmers to determine what happens on their land overrides companies’ legal right to explore or mine.



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“There is a pathway forward where the producers recognise the right of farmers to control who comes onto their land,” the environment minister, Greg Hunt, told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday. “It’s a moral right, it’s not, at this moment, because of the constitution, a legal right.

“But frankly, in the 21st century, the right way to do this is for the gas companies to effectively say we won’t assert our legal right over your moral right and in the real world it won’t work unless there’s farmers’ consent.”

The former industry minister Ian Macfarlane released a domestic gas plan in April, acknowledging deep community opposition, but emphasising the need for the development of new gas reserves to combat rising prices

But a consensus appears to be emerging within the Coalition that mining companies should acknowledge farmers’ right to “lock the gate”.

“I’ve actually encouraged the gas producers to say to the farmers we will not explore or extract on your land without your consent. And I have argued that the gas producers should give that right to the farmers to control who comes onto their land,” Hunt said.

Last week, the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, also supported farmers’ rights to reach agreement with mining companies on coal seam gas before development went ahead, and said he would 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 to a veto over mining companies were 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.

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 New South Wales 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.”