Australian mining tax could get poisoned by coal seam gas

Australia’s new mining tax is being held up in the legislature by independents who want more controls on coal seam gas.

Sydney Morning Herald reports that two independents MPs, Tony Windsor and Roy Oakeshott, are demanding curbs on coal seam gas exploration, and that hundreds of millions of environmental research dollars be spent, in return for their support for the bill:

Mr Windsor, who holds the NSW seat of New England, told the Herald he had had enough of the methods of coal seam gas companies, which were expanding operations dramatically in NSW and Queensland. Mr Windsor’s key demand is for $200 million to $400 million to be allocated each year from the tax revenue to fund bio-regional assessments, an idea he raised last week.

Windsor and the Australian Green Party have both put forward legislation granting greater federal powers of approval says SMH. The Green Party wants the tax to apply to gold companies as well as iron ore and coal.

The tax is predicted to raise $11 billion in its first three years.

MINING.com reported in July on a grassroots movement opposed to coal-seam gas (CSG) that got a boost of star power when ’70s pop singer Olivia Newton-John panned the controversial practice.