NSW and Vic not following Qld mining ban

The NSW and Victorian governments say they have no intention of joining Queensland in banning mining exploration in urban areas.

The Queensland government announced on Monday it would prohibit exploration in urban centres, providing a two-kilometre buffer around towns with a population of 1000 or more.

NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham called on NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell on Tuesday to provide the same protections in the state, where coal seam gas (CSG) exploration has also become a divisive political issue.

"In NSW right now there are major mining projects occurring perilously close to major centres," Mr Buckingham said in a statement.

But a spokeswoman for NSW Resources Minister Chris Hartcher said the government had "no current plans" to impose a 2km buffer between CSG extraction and residential areas.

Last month the NSW government announced it would introduce a moratorium on the controversial "fracking" process used in CSG mining, and ban the use of toxic chemicals.

However, a 60-day moratorium on new exploration licences for coal, coal seam gas and petroleum was allowed to expire.

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu says Victoria has not had "a big issue" with the controversial gas.

"We have prospecting mining rights laws here (and) we don't have any proposal to change them here," Mr Baillieu told reporters on Tuesday.

"Farmers do have rights under Victorian law and everybody has a right to have their say but there are also mining and prospecting rights."

Liberal frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has also weighed into the debate over coal seam gas exploration, urging Australians to look to science.

With the debate heating up between farmers and miners over land access rights, Mr Turnbull insists the bigger picture is about the potential environmental impacts.

"It goes beyond the interest of the farmer," he told ABC television on Monday.

"A farmer might agree (to CSG mining on his land) ... but what if that affects the water table and the groundwater for the neighbours?"

Mr Turnbull believes there's big potential for damage to Australia's groundwater resources through gas exploration and urged more scientific research.

Mr Brown said Mr Turnbull was "on the money" in raising his concerns.

"We want to see a moratorium on coal seam gas until that whole matter is sorted out," he told reporters in Canberra.

His comments came as the Australian Greens prepare to introduce legislation giving farmers the right to deny CSG miners access to their land.

Meanwhile, the Queensland government says smaller communities left out of the new mining exploration ban could still be protected in the future.

Natural Resources Minister Rachel Nolan on Tuesday didn't rule out expanding the protection to smaller areas, saying the 1000 population cut-off was chosen because of the definition of an urban area by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"We are currently consulting around, is a town of 1000 people the right spot at which draw the line?" she told reporters at a Queensland gas industry conference in Brisbane.

"We'll hear from people about what it is that they think is an appropriate level through the current consultation process."