Stop CSG Sydney launched its Cancel the Licence campaign in August 2014. It called on the NSW government to cancel it on the basis that the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 allows the Energy and Resources Minister to cancel licences because of a company’s failure to meet licence conditions, including drilling within a specified time, financial standing and ability to comply with regulations. We argued that Dart Energy had has failed to meet the conditions of its licence and the community did not want mining in Sydney. Marrickville Council unanimously agreed to sign on its November meeting and committed itself to educate the LGA about the dangers of unconventional gas mining as well as investigate a non-binding poll in the 2016 council elections on CSG as a way of adding pressure to get the licence extinguished — if it hadn’t already been cancelled. Given the new 2-kilometre buffer zone laws, and the community opposition to CSG drilling, it is an anachronism that there still is a licence to drill in an area where more than 4 million people live and work, we said.
Cancel the PEL 463 licence camapign
Over the last year our main campaign was to get the coal seam gas exploration licence covering the Sydney basin — PEL 463 — cancelled. It was successful. We devised a campaign which included:
1. Researching the exploration licence history of the PEL;
2. Appealing to the Energy Minister to: A) not allow the licence to be sold to UK companyIgas: and B) cancel it on legal, environmental and common sense grounds;
3. Getting community organisations to support the Cancel the Licence campaign, including University of Sydney National Tertiary Education Union as well as other Stop CSG Groups (CSG Free Western Sydney signed on and helped organise an action);
4. Approaching local government to sign on. Pip Hinman and Adrienne Shilling addressed Marrickville Council about the campaign and council signed on (unanimously). Council also organised four banners across the LGA declaring Marrickville “CSG free”.
5. Letter boxing and door knocking in the inner west about the licence cancellation campaign in the lead up to the elections. We approached the Labor, the Greens and Socialist Alliance to help out (and the latter did).
6. Hosting an election forum with local candidates which included asking them to state their views on cancelling the licence covering the Sydney basin. All agreed with the campaign. On other CSG-related issues we drew up a score card for the website and FB site.
7. Holding petition and information stalls in the Marrickville Local Government Area —including at Land, Water Future events, local markets, and Dulwich Hill, Marrickville and Newtown Festivals.
8. Issuing many media releases which led to several articles being published in the local press.
9. Successfully securing a meeting with the Office of Coal Seam Gas where Lou Steer, Pip Hinman and Daniel Robins (Lock the Gate Alliance) asked a series of questions about the state of the licences in NSW. (Lou Steer wrote up a detailed report for Stop CSG Sydney.)
10. On March 7, the NSW energy minister Anthony Roberts announced he had cancelled PEL 463. Compensation was also given to the company.
Stop CSG Sydney would like to again thank Karol Florek for his efforts in undertaking the research work for this successful campaign.