Agriculture

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Larissa Waters. This means that the motion was rejected.

Read more about coal seam gas here.

Text of the motion

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) recent reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that the Prime Minister personally promised Tara resident, Ms Debbie Orr, that nobody should be forced to have a gas well on their property,

(ii) the Coalition's election platform that access to prime agricultural land should only be allowed with the farmer's agreement – the farmer should have the right to say yes or no to coal seam gas exploration and extraction on their property, and

(iii) that there are no constitutional limitations preventing the Federal Government from giving Australian landholders the legal right to say no to coal seam gas; and

(b) calls on the Government to follow through on these statements by giving landholders the legal right to say no to coal seam gas mining on their land under federal law.