Another block was removed from the path of Australia's coal seam gas boom a fortnight ago, as the NSW government stepped away from pre-election commitments to protect prime agricultural land from mining with no-go areas.

The draft NSW strategic regional land use policy, like Queensland's strategic cropping laws before it, sets out the conditions under which coal seam gas or other mining can go ahead on farmland.



The NSW Farmers Association was not so cautious last week, with president Fiona Simson issuing a call to action to farmers across the state. It accused the O'Farrell government of breaking an election promise, and called on it to restore certainty by defining areas where mineral, coal and coal seam gas activities could occur, before exploration licences were granted. ''Today the NSW government has failed,'' she said.




But revved up by powerful backers such as broadcaster Alan Jones and wealthy donors with rural landholdings, Hutton warns ''people would be really silly to minimise the importance of the popular movement here. It's a real game changer. They think it's going to go away. It's not. It's getting more militant.''


http://www.smh.com.au/business/a-200b-push-to-become-worlds-biggest-gas-power-20120316-1vahb.html