A section of the community wants to "demonise" coal seam gas (CSG) but the importance of the clean energy source needs to be sold to the public, federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says.
Mr Ferguson has told an oil and gas safety conference in Perth that Australia's emerging CSG industry needs a strong regulatory framework to ensure the highest standards of safety and environmental protection.
The petroleum industry needed to work with government to sell the benefits of CSG to the public, he told the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) conference on Tuesday.
Several CSG operations have begun in Queensland and NSW but have sparked concern from farmers and other landowners who fear land and water contamination following extraction problems overseas.
Putting in place a proper framework for the industry would address many pressing issues of access, water management and land use, the minister said.
"It's very important that we have proper regard for these requirements because there's currently a section of the Australian community that is seeking to demonise the onshore industry," Mr Ferguson said.
"We're going to have to work collectively to basically sell to the Australian community the importance of this industry."
Mr Ferguson said CSG was a clean energy and very important in Australia's transition to a low-emissions economy and also important globally because of the challenge of climate change.
The reputation and safety of CSG extraction was hard won and easily lost and the industry faced a challenge to secure community support, he said.
Mr Ferguson said it was important to engage with communities, especially in rural areas.
Regulation of the CSG industry fell primarily under state and territory governments with the commonwealth limited to matters under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act , the minister said.
He said the Queensland and NSW governments were working on regulatory processes and he urged state governments to cooperate in efforts to grow "this exciting new industry".
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