Media Release

20 JUNE 2017:

KAP Party Leader Bob Katter has today moved for a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (with all the powers of a Royal Commission) into the coal seam gas industry.

Mr Katter’s demand follows years of working with Chinchilla farmer Kane Booth on his legal battle with CSG company QGC over infrastructure they put on his farm, which Mr Booth says has destroyed his business.

“A massive amount of environmental devastation has occurred,” Mr Katter said.

“A Royal Commission will zero in on his case and various other very ugly occurrences.

“There are people who have made squillions of dollars out of this, and the relationships with Government need to be looked at and looked at seriously.”

Trond Smith, who has been supporting Mr Booth through his ongoing battle, joined him in Canberra this week to meet with crossbench Parliamentarians about supporting a CSG Commission of Inquiry.

“The company has used bargaining power techniques to effectively bully landowners into signing agreements, which would normally need to be sorted through legal representation,” Mr Smith said.

“The difficulty is that it is impossible for most landholders to afford to pay the legal representation.”

Mr Booth has previously presented evidence to Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines of where QGC had breached their Environmental Authority multiple times.

Mr Booth included photographs and also recordings in which the company made several admissions acknowledging breaches of their Environmental Authority.

Many months later, Mr Booth is no closer to a solution.

“It really has come to the need for the powers of a Royal Commission,” Mr Katter said.

“Mr Booth’s story is an embarrassment to this country, and there are possibly hundreds of others out there like him.”

PICTURED: Hon. Bob Katter MP with Kane Booth at Parliament House in Canberra, where he has been meeting with crossbenchers to gain support for a Parliamentary inquiry into coal seam gas.