CSG lobby quits poll by council

A KEY coal seam gas industry group has dropped its support for Lismore City Council's election day CSG poll.

A KEY coal seam gas industry group has dropped its support for Lismore City Council's election day CSG poll, accusing the council of letting activists submit false information in the "no" case for the poll.

In a letter to councillors, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's chief operating officer, Rick Wilkinson, also accused the council of using a leading question in the poll, "framed in such a way that it provokes a negative response".

The poll is intended to gauge community support for coal seam gas drilling within the council area.

Lismore voters will receive a "yes" case, supplied by the association and a "no" case, from the Lock the Gate Alliance, before being asked: "Do you support coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and production in the Lismore City Council area?".

In his letter Mr Wilkinson writes: "A more meaningful question for voters might be, 'Regardless of your personal feelings about coal seam gas (CSG,) do you support CSG for Australia's economic and energy future?'."

"Lismore City Council corporate services manager Simon Adcock said the association's "yes" case was already printed and would still be used with the poll question.

The poll question was prepared for the council by Southern Cross University senior lecturer David Lloyd.

In a letter responding to Mr Wilkinson, Lismore City Council general manager Gary Murphy said he stood by the council's question and suggested the association's proposed replacement was leading, because it "provides the respondent with a purely economic focus at the expense of any possible social and environmental factors".

The council could not verify the statements in the yes/no cases and it would be up to individual voters to assess their credibility, he said.

Lock the Gate spokeswoman Boudicca Cerese denied her group used false information, saying each statement in the "no" case came from reputable sources.

Those sources included government websites and documents, the Australian Government National Water Commission and NSW and Federal inquiries along with media reports and ministerial press releases.

Ms Cerese said the same credibility issues raised about Lock the Gate could be raised about the association.

"Their job is to represent the interests of CSG companies and the sole aim of those companies is to make a profit for their shareholders, ... so on what basis can they claim to be concerned for and know what's best for residents," she said.

However, APPEA spokesman Chris Ward said Lock the Gate had provided incorrect information before. He pointed to an incident last year when claims by the group attributed to a US study instead turned out to be about shale gas operations.

Originally published as CSG lobby quits poll by council