PERTH (miningweekly.com) – New South Wales Energy Minister Anthony Roberts has called on oil and gas players in the state to have greater involvement in swaying public opinion in favour of the industry.

“Do not hide from the debate,” Roberts said at the Domestic Gas Outlook conference, in Sydney this week.

“There are real environmental risks in this industry and there are real solutions. The industry cannot pretend that these risks don’t exist. However, more needs to be done in explaining to the public the world-leading technology and processes we have in Australia to address these risks,” the Minister said.

“I have also consistently told everyone in this debate that more needs to be done to directly address the environmental concerns that the public and land-holders hold in relation to this industry.

“It is one thing to sell the future economic benefits of this industry, but it means two-tenths of bugger all if people think you are stuffing up their water,” he added.

Roberts told delegates that the state government was looking to secure energy supplies for its 1.2-million individual household gas users, as well as 33 00 gas reliant businesses, and 500 heavy industrial users.

“With exports having come on line this year the fundamentals of the market have changed and we can no longer pretend that New South Wales can remain import dependent for our gas needs.”

He noted that the aim of the newly released New South Wales gas plan was to protect the state’s natural resource while securing the future energy needs.

The state government was also working to increase gas market transparency to ensure better information for consumers, with Roberts adding that the government was implementing all recommendations made by chief scientist and engineer Mary O’Kane to build a world-class regime for the extraction of gas.

As part of the reset of the industry, the state government has started buying back licences, which thus far has seen 12 petroleum exploration licences cancelled, covering more than 2.9-million hectares.

If re-elected, the Campbell Baird government had plans to extend the buy-back until the end of June this year.

New South Wales opposition leader Luke Foley has pledged to “permanently ban CSG [coal seam gas] exploration and extraction across the North Coast”, should his party win the March 28 election in the state. “I believe CSG is just too much of a risk,” he stated.