In the old Chinese proverb, the frog in the well thinks he knows everything about the world, based on the little patch of sky he can see. The view from the bottom of an open-cut coalmine might be a little wider than that of a well, but NSW Minerals Council chief executive  Stephen Galilee’s discussion of the role

Chinese mining company Shenhua has quite a battle on its hands.  It has loudly and proudly promised employment, investment, and royalties for the Gunnedah region, if its Watermark coal project goes ahead, but locals are publicly calling “foul” on Shenhua’s claims. Residents have managed to stuff the NSW government’s letterbox full of appeals against the

Bundaberg is experiencing a flurry of exploratory drilling for coal deposits. The local mining sector is buzzing, and its investors are trumpeting the region as Queensland’s newest coal centre.  They promise jobs, money, and a shiny white rabbit from under their hard hat! The Bundaberg community isn’t convinced.  They fear the coal mine expansion will

Mining industry lobby group the NSW Minerals Council this week released yet another report on mining’s importance to the NSW and regional economies.  Not surprisingly, the report contains lots of big numbers.   But this report, like many before it, is a case of ‘‘what’s true isn’t surprising and what’s surprising isn’t true’’. Let’s start

The economic benefits of a major Queensland coal project in the Darling Downs were exaggerated and the negative impacts underplayed, according to an analysis by The Australia Institute. There are currently 28 proposed mining projects in Queensland and the state government has committed to doubling coal production and exports by 2030. One of the projects

Health and climate impacts suggest unconventional gas is not the best option for Australia’s energy future, according to research released today. The research paper Is fracking good for your health? is co-published by The Australia Institute and The Social Justice Initiative. It examines existing research to analyse the impacts of unconventional gas – coal seam gas (CSG),

The newly released report from the Victorian government’s Gas Taskforce is not surprising, given a recent article by its chair, writes Matt Grudnoff.

Peter Reith, Paul Howes and Innes Willox think lifting the ban on fracking in Victoria will stop gas prices from rising. Sorry guys, but you’re wrong. To think that more gas is going to stop the price going up misunderstands why the gas price is rising.

Tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society. It is what funds our health system, our education system and our public transport infrastructure. Tony Abbott has just asked the head of the Business Council of Australia to advise him on how much we should spend on those things. Not surprisingly, the

Everyday Australians are feeling uneasy and under-informed about the risks surrounding the extraction of coal seam gas (CSG), according to new research by The Australia Institute. A survey of more than 1400 people makes up part of the research paper What Australians don’t know about CSG. Respondents were asked about their knowledge of, and concerns

Just as those in the world of Harry Potter refused to utter Lord Voldemort’s name for fear of their lives, the gas industry appears equally frightened of using the words ‘coal seam gas’ for fear it might hurt its profits. But just as calling Voldemort ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ didn’t make him disappear, calling coal seam gas (CSG)

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Last week, Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) chief executive Hennie du Plooy said in the Newcastle Herald that the proposed Terminal 4 project (T4) would “inject $770million a year into the regional economy during construction and another $418million a year” when operating. I don’t

Despite decades of debate, many economists can’t agree with each other about fundamental issues. We can’t agree what causes unemployment, we can’t agree what fixes it and we can’t agree whether we should run deficits when the economy slows down. Careers could be made on the length of some unresolved disputes with colleagues. Lawyers, on

If you can create a “crisis”, offer a snake oil solution, and make a lot of money out of both, then you are onto a good thing. All the better if you can blame someone else for causing it in the first place. That’s exactly what the coal seam gas industry is doing, in partnership

Winston Churchill once said, “never let a good crisis go to waste”. The gas industry clearly agrees with him. It has taken a problem of its own making and turned it into a reason why Australians should ignore all their concerns about coal seam gas and let the industry drill wherever it likes. And if

The Coalition’s newly announced trade policy leaves the federal government vulnerable to legal action from international companies, according to The Australia Institute.  Hours before voters head to the polls, the opposition has announced it would use investor-state dispute settlement clauses in free trade agreements. The move would give foreign companies the right to take action

The export gas multinationals are no friend of Australian manufacturing. There is only one reason that the gas prices are set to at least double over the next few years – gas export companies will force Australian consumers to compete with the Asian market for gas. That’s the true cost of opening up coal seam

The federal government should do more to protect agricultural land from coal seam gas mining, according to a new report commissioned by The Australia Institute. The research, released today, was untaken by the Australian Network of Environmental Defender’s Offices. It identifies areas of the Constitution of Australia which would allow for national reforms to protect

The Commonwealth government has the power to protect Australia from the negative impacts of coal mining and coal seam gas and shouldn’t pass responsibility to the states, according to new research commissioned by The Australia Institute. The research, released today, was untaken by the Australian Network of Environmental Defender’s Offices. It identifies areas of the

The Queensland government’s approval of Clive Palmer’s latest coal mine and rail project shows a blatant disregard for the thousands of jobs that will be lost as a result, according to The Australia Institute. Waratah Coal’s own economic impact statement shows the China First mine will see 3,000 people losing their jobs, primarily across Queensland.

When politicians lie, make things up or simply get important things wrong, we take for granted that it is the role of their political opponents to highlight such errors. Our politicians are so focused on each other’s words that a mere slip of the tongue can become a news story for days. This isn’t so for

The gas industry’s claims that new gas supplies are needed to bring down energy prices are misleading and incorrect, according to The Australia Institute. APPEA has today launched a national multimillion dollar campaign claiming that without developing new gas supplies Australia will lose jobs and energy prices will continue to soar. But research from The

In debates about climate change and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, there is a widely-held belief that market mechanisms, like the Labor government’s carbon pricing scheme, will reduce emissions in the cheapest possible way. As a matter of pure theory, this is correct but, in practice, it depends on what is included and excluded

We all agree that gas prices are going to rise. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) would have you believe that the restrictions on coal seam gas (CSG) in NSW are the cause of the coming price hikes. Ironically, it’s not the lack of CSG that is driving up the price but the

The mining industry is in the middle of an expensive new campaign to convince Australians that the growth of mining will not come at the expense of farming. In late 2011 Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott talked about respecting the rights of farmers and about protecting arable land from mining, but rejected calls to stop

Households in eastern Australia are about to be hit with more gas price increases which could see wholesale prices triple, according to new research from The Australia Institute. The independent think tank’s paper Cooking up a price rise finds that wholesale gas prices will rise from around $3 or $4 a gigajoule to around $9

The federal government is pouring an extra half a billion dollars into taxpayer-funded subsidies to the mining industry, research by The Australia Institute has found. The Institute’s new paper Pouring more fuel on the fire reveals the booming sector has been propped up even further over the past year and now receives $4.5 billion from

Last month, PWCS management halted development of its controversial T4 coal terminal after downgrading its demand projections, citing falling commodity prices and the shifting global energy market. Considering the opportunistic nature of the proposal, this was always likely to be the case. The company’s environmental assessment used historically high estimates for steaming and coking coal

Politicians often claim that mining supports local communities such as Gloucester through job creation and attracting investment. However, Gloucester’s experience has been one of sluggish growth, environmental degradation and job losses in agriculture – the town’s biggest industry. Mining companies, including Yancoal and AGL, may tell communities that their business is the key to success,

Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal claims its Galilee Coal Project, which will create four underground mines, two open-cut mines, and 468 kilometres of railway line in central Queensland, will bring economic prosperity to the region. In its recently-released supplementary environmental impact statement, however, the company refused calls to release its modelling. Without it, the public is