As mining becomes one of the major issues in the lead-up to the federal election, Greens candidate Dawn Walker says, if elected, she will introduce a bill to the lower house to ban fracking.
This morning a contingent of Greens including deputy leader and CSG spokesperson, Larissa Waters, will meet outside the office of Tamara Smith MP to make the announcement.
‘We Greens all agree that our land, water, environment and climate are too important to damage with fracking,’ says Ms Walker.
‘We have has viable renewable alternatives that don’t contaminate the environment or our food bowls and that would generate new sustainable jobs in the northern rivers region.
Walker says that as the Greens’ lower house representative for Richmond, she would further Larissa Waters’ work in the Senate protecting our land, water and climate by introducing a bill to ban fracking.
‘This would be the first time that a bill banning fracking has ever been introduced in the House of Representatives.
‘New coal and gas mines don’t make economic sense as the world moves to clean energy and which sacrifice jobs in agriculture and tourism.
Walker says that people in the northern rivers have a reputation of standing upto the coal seam gas industry.
‘The state election was a moratorium on CSG and we made history with the Greens taking the seat of Ballina. We can do it again this federal election.’
Senator Waters says the Greens have been working in the Senate to give landholders the right to say ‘no’ to coal and gas on their property, and to ban fracking.
‘It’s clear to the community that the balance between big mining companies and landholders is hopelessly skewed towards big coal and gas,’ she says. ‘The big parties seem to ignore this gross inequity because of the massive political donations they take from big mining companies.
‘The Greens have always stood with farmers against invasive CSG, shale and tight gas, and our amendments to add shale and tight gas to the “water trigger” in 2013 were voted down by the old parties.
‘The Greens will continue to stand strong with farmers, traditional owners and local councils, who want to protect their land, water and climate from fracking.’
The official announcement will take place at Tamara Smith’s office in Moon St Ballina at 10am.
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