Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D'Ambrosio said yesterday that the inquiry would give its people a voice as "regional Victorians deserve to know the risks associated with CSG exploration, and locals must have a say in what happens in their community".
"The Andrews Labor government will protect communities," she said. "The inquiry will engage with farmers, local councils and regional Victorians and thoroughly get to the bottom of CSG exploration."
AGPA CEO Cheryl Cartwright said the moratorium on all onshore gas activities was not good for investment or for energy supplies in Victoria.
"The independent scientific reviews already conducted have shown that, with appropriate safety measures and regulation, CSG extraction can be achieved safely and efficiently, and provide benefits to local communities," Cartwright said.
"Water from CSG developments is treated and available for use by landholders, improving the value of their operations and landholders are paid by the gas companies for the use of their land.
"Furthermore, gas has half the emissions of coal-fired power and that's what we should be using as the back-up fuel for renewable energy generation and as the transitional fuel as the nation moves towards increased renewable energy."
She said policies that halt development of natural gas condemned Victorians to using electricity generated by high carbon emitting coal-fired power.
"This outcome is generating twice as much carbon emissions as gas-fired power, clearly not the aim of the switch to renewable energy," she said.
"We encourage the government's latest review to fully consider the independent science on CSG development and also consider the carbon emissions consequences of ignoring the benefits of natural gas."
D'Ambrosio said the Victorian Coalition's review was "quick and dirty" and failed to consult local communities - echoing a charge that Pallas also made at APPEA 2015 in Melbourne last week.
"The previous Coalition government failed to rule-out that fraccing would put our water supplies and food production at risk," she said.
She added that the previous government failed to adequately address the scientific and environmental impact issues around CSG.
