Video: World Gold Council sees market uncertainty raising metal’s price
WGC senior market strategist sees several trigger points that could prompt gold to move even higher, perhaps stirring more interest from retail investors.
A businesswoman in Scenic Rim, a sparsely populated region that covers 4,250sq km located an hour inland from Australia’s Gold Coast, has declared war on coal seam gas mining in the region.
About 80% of the Scenic Rim region is covered by coal seam gas exploration licences and Mt Barney Lodge owner Tracey Larkin is fighting to have them scrapped. And the fight has just begun. “The Scenic Rim will become the ‘Industrial Bin’ if coal and seam gas mining goes ahead,” Mrs Larkin said.
Continue reading at Goldcoast.au.com
An editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald published on Saturday says there are a lot of economic benefits to the CSG boom: jobs for workers, profits for shareholders in gas companies such as Origin and AGL and a new source of export income for Australia which, in theory if not in practice, could help reduce our dependence on coal. But if we dare to ask whether a switch to gas, particularly from an unconventional source such as coal seam gas, will actually help us tackle climate change, the industry hides behind commercial confidentiality.
3 Comments
Michael Hill, Christmas Creek
Sparely populated? It might help if you do your research, before you publish such misleading information. The Scenic Rim is designated rural residential, under the Government’s south-east Queensland regional plan, with an expected population of 71,000 by 2031 – growth partly fueled by proximity to Brisbane and the Gold coast. This is not dry, low-value country: this is special country. With rapid residential growth, agriculture and tourism exist sustainably in this region of huge tracts of national parks, greenspace, agricultural lands and iconic mountainscapes – more than 50% of Queenslands World Heritage-listed National Park area is within the Scenic Rim.
Both industries are threatened by coal and coal seam gas, as are our underground water supplies. The gas industry has openly said contamination will occur – this alone is unacceptable for a region which is based on agriculture. Add the issues raised by above ground infrastructure and you create a nightmare for those who already live here.
The benefits of mining: have you not heard of the two speed economy? How many jobs does mining actually create, compared to the number it will destroy in our region (when the farm workers are lured away and tourism is trashed by an industrialised region). Your industry has wreaked other industries and communities across the world. Why will be be different? Profits for shareholders – yes, Arrow: a global multinational company, which will take its profits offshore. Great for Australia!
I realise you are geared by jobs and profits and have obviously not considered the wider impact of mining. There is much evidence that coal seam gas is not in fact cleaner than coal – especially when turned to LNG for export.
You also need to know, we the communities of the Scenic Rim will NOT accept your advances here. We will fight, as will those in surrounding communities. People united are a powerful force which cannot be matched by money. We care about where we live.
Denise, Crystal Creek
You people have no idea of the impact you are making on rural Australia. There are many of us who don’t want our country dug up or dug into because we care. The Scenic Rim is a beautiful area which should be preserved. It is a well known tourist destination overseas and this will stop if the CSG industry takes over. What a disaster and I’m not even a hippy greenie feral but a conservative grandmother who was a business owner and worked in education for over thirty years. I know for a fact that the Scenic Rim attracts overseas visitors because I owned a tour operation business for 18 years and have attended many Australian Tourism Exchanges extolling the beauty of my region in opposition to the Scenic Rim which is known worldwide. When are you going to realise that people in these areas are not convinced by your promises of employment and profit for shareholders? When are you going to realise that people are beginning to question every aspect of this CSG boom and are taking steps to stop our countryside from becoming an industrialized wasteland.
Tracey
This “sparsely populated region” known as the Scenic Rim is in fact adjacent to the fast growing urban cities of the Gold Coast and Logan city .. 2 weeks ago Logan city was attracting national reognition for having the cleanest air (in a city) in Australia .. well guess where that clean air corridor comes from?? If you drove from Surfers Paradise to Canungra it would take you 40 minute, if you drove from the CBD of Brisbane to Beaudesert (before horrendous Brisbane traffic) it used to take under an hour. Do not be fooled that this is an area a long way from the cities “out west” – you can see the namesake peaks from any highpoint in Brisbane – and next weekend you will almost see us wave our HUGE banners off the top of these peaks!!
The Scenic Rim may have a smaller population base, but it is currently used extensively by Brisbane and Gold Coast residents as a recreational playground to “get away from it all”. The argument that this is a region worth sacrificing due to a smaller population is just outrageous.
I guess that is why “Protesters on Peaks” on Sunday 16th October has attracted so many RSVPs from people outside and inside the shire. Thousands of people value the unique feature of this region, even if the coal and coal seam gas companies who are making decisions on cash not ethics, do not.
http://www.keepthescenicrimscenic.com has details on the “Protesters on Peaks” event. This is everyones chance to make their opinion count.