Senator Glenn Lazarus’s 117-page interim Senate report on unconventional gas mining in Australia was released on May 4. It makes a case for much tighter federal control of the industry and the public resources it has access to, but does not recommend its closure.
If anything the report underscores the need for a royal commission into the toxic industry that relies on commercial in confidence provisions to get away with poisoning people and the environment.
Glenn Lazarus
Queensland Senator Glenn Lazarus says he hopes a Senate inquiry into unconventional gas mining will restart a push for farmer land rights, which has waned in the months since the death of activist George Bender.
Lazarus has dubbed it the “Bender inquiry”, in honour of the farmer whose suicide last October after a 10-year battle with gas companies put the issue on the national agenda.
Information on how to make a submission or where to attend a public hearing can be found here.