A critical amendment to the Bill was moved by the Reverend Fred Nile on Tuesday and passed the Legislative Council with unanimous support of MLCs before passing the Legislative Assembly today. The NSWALC is based at Parramatta.
NSWALC Chairman, Councillor Craig Cromelin, said the amendment to the Gas Plan would help secure the future energy needs of NSW industry and households, whilst importantly delivering economic opportunities for Aboriginal people across the State.
“This is a big win for Aboriginal people and the wider NSW community,” Councillor Cromelin said.
“After investing significant time and expense in the process thus far, the changes to the Gas Plan now give NSWALC the certainty that we will retain our priority to re-apply for exploration licences in the six areas already covered by our existing applications.
“Put simply, we will still be at the front of the queue.
“We have assured the Government that, working with our partner, we are committed to meeting the standards of the new regulations.
“NSWALC will ensure that the culture and heritage of local Aboriginal people is respected during any resource development and that ongoing consultation with local communities and other stakeholders remains our priority.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the Reverend Fred Nile for his wisdom and courage which has helped us continue on our path of becoming the first-ever Aboriginal organisation to explore for gas in NSW.
“NSWALC would also like to thank the Minister for Resources and Energy, Anthony Roberts, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Linda Burney, the Greens and the Shooters and Fishers Party for their interest in and support of, our resource development plan.
“With this support from all political parties and Independents, we now look forward to working with the Government under its new regulatory framework to achieve our goals.”
Councillor Cromelin said the majority of NSWALC’s applications were focused on conventional gas, not coal seam gas (CSG), in the sparsely populated, far west of NSW where
Aboriginal communities are in serious need of real employment opportunities and which gas development can provide.
