MEDIA RELEASE
18 September 2012
Minister Humphries admits
Land Use Plan is a dud
The Greens NSW spokesperson on mining and agriculture, Jeremy Buckingham today called on the Minister for Western NSW, Kevin Humphries to resign from Cabinet and join the cross bench, after it was revealed that he told farmers in North Western NSW to ‘lock the gate’ because the government’s land use policy had failed to protect their land and water. See: http://bit.ly/QwmceK
“It is clear the Nationals have been smashed by Chris Hartcher and their pro-gas Liberal masters in Cabinet. If Kevin Humphries wants to truly represent the farming communities of western NSW he should resign from Cabinet and move to the cross bench as an independent,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.
“The government has broken its promise by failing to protect any land or water in NSW, and as Minister Humphries acknowledges, the only choice for farmers is to lock the gate and break the law.”
“The Nationals have such a low level of confidence in their own government’s policy that they’re telling farmers to keep locking the gate.”
“The National Party have failed to have any exploration licences cancelled and have implemented a gateway process that can not stop a single development.”
“The Greens Responsible Mining Bill would rule out mining and gas on productive agricultural land and empower local Councils to prohibit mining in certain areas in their Local Environment Plans,” he said.
Contact: Max Phillips - 9230 2202 or 0419 444 916