An environmental lobby group says the federal Labor government should use its powers to override state counterparts and stop some approvals for coal and coal seam gas (CSG) mining.
The Lock the Gate Alliance has launched a campaign to lobby federal politicians about coal and CSG mining ahead of the September federal election.
AAP Newsagency reports the group plans to put posters with its demands on the doors of the electoral offices of all 150 lower house MPs.
Alliance president Drew Hutton said in the national capital, Canberra, the minority Labor government could use export and trading powers to create no-go zones over agricultural or national landscape areas, or expand national environmental laws to cover ground water.
“It is a fairly comprehensive list of powers that the federal government should adopt and can adopt,” Mr Hutton said.
Handing over some federal environmental approval and assessment powers to the states would be disastrous, Mr Hutton said.
“It really means these projects get even less scrutiny than they are getting at present,” Mr Hutton said.
Mr Hutton said the states had too much of a vested interest in approving mines given the income from royalties.
“They are going to say yes to every one of these,” he said.
The alliance was not opposed to all mining, just in inappropriate areas, Mr Hutton said.
These included areas of good agricultural land, fragile groundwater, environmental and cultural significance, and close to settlements.
AAP reports the alliance released a map, which showed an estimated 437 million hectares covered by coal and gas licences or applications, which was around 56 per cent of Australia.
The Australian Greens Party backed the Alliance’s moves to stem the approvals of CSG mining in rural areas.
“The old parties need to wake up to the fact that the protection of agricultural land and water is critical in an age of food security,” Australian Greens leader, Senator Christine Milne said in a statement.
