2016-09-30
Commenting on reports that CommBank has refused to accept a property with CSG wells on as security for a bridging loan, Acting Greens Leader and Mining & Resources spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said:
“We’ve known all along that fracking and CSG risks our land, water and the climate – now a major bank is admitting it also risks property values.
“This is the smoking gun the industry has been trying to deny for years – that CSG destroys property values.
“This is yet another broken promise by the gas companies to landholders and yet another failure of state and federal Governments who have facilitated this dirty industry.
“Gas companies bully and force their way on to farms and properties and often subsequently refuse to purchase them, leaving ordinary people stranded, as they lack the legal right to refuse access in the first place.
“Given we’ve seen how this industry destroys ordinary Australians’ lives, it’s time the Coalition and Labor stopped accepting massive donations from this dirty industry and started properly policing it.
“We need a national ban on fracking so that our precious agricultural land, our water and the health of our rural communities are protected.
“The big parties should support my bill to ban fracking across Australia and to empower landholders and traditional owners to refuse unconventional gas or coal mining on their property.
“The Victorian state Labor government has banned fracking and it’s long past time Queensland and federal Labor followed suit.
“Federal and state governments should invest in clean energy for regional job creation, and stop blindly supporting the dirty CSG industry which is threatening long-term jobs in agriculture and Reef tourism.”
Contact – Asia Munro 0419 626 725