How are our Human Rights Impacted?
How are human rights impacted by this industry?
After biding their time over the last 5 turbulent years for CSG (particularly the Qld and northern NSW), Arrow Energy have dived right in. After launching their ‘economising deal’ with QGC they quickly launched a round of ‘community information’ sessions, one of which was held on Tuesday 12/12/18. This first session was live streamed on our facebook page in order to enable the wider community to share in the experience of those expected to host this industry.
This information session was very poor. It appeared to be staged to ensure there was very little time for public questions. The questions that were asked were not answered directly or transparently or in terms of the landholder, that is they were answered from Arrow’s perspective. In other words the industry has not learned, they spoke and gave the public little opportunity to speak and ignored them when they did. It was appalling and arrogant. A lively media exchange following the session highlighted the failure of the industry to be transparent particularly regarding the critical issue regarding landholders being able to say no,,, they seemed unaware and unconcerned that they had expanded a reputation for arrogance and a tin ear.
The reality is that Arrow are launching a project that was approved 5 years ago without the benefit of any of the knowledge that has been developed in the intervening years.
This project will be installed in the vicinity of existing projects.
Their EIS is just as poor as any other company’s assessment, and fails to consider any cumulative impact let alone what the community will have to deal with in terms of cumulative impact their project may have in relation to the existing projects.
In attending the ‘info session’ and reading their EIS It appears that it is just business as usual, that nothing has been learned and incorporated in the last 10 years of the industry operating.
So using this very topical example, how are human rights impacted?
Our Human Rights are supported by International Human Rights Law, the Australian Governments have failed to carry out their duty to adopt and implement policy to protect these rights, specifically when it comes to this industry. Also through permitting and enabling the industry in violating these human rights, the Australian Government has failed.
| Human Rights | Impacts |
|---|---|
| Right to Health, Water, Food, Housing, and not to be arbitrarily deprived of their property | • Inequity in the interaction between multinational and individuals • Lack of the right to say no • Atmospheric, light and noise emissions • Lack of baseline testing • Lack of representation • Lack of transparent information • Lack of transparency of the insurance impacts for individuals • Industrialisation of the landscape • Compete with farmers for local water supplies while removing millions of gallons of water • Expectation to deal with multiple companies and multiple contracts on individual properties • Lack of consideration of the impact on neighbours and the wider community |
| Right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment | • Impact on ground water dependant ecosystem • Produce massive volumes of toxic and even radioactive waste, the disposal of which is causing earthquakes and putting at risk drinking water resources; • Put vital aquifers at risk for generations by creating new pathways for the potential flow of contaminants over the coming years and decades; • contribution by the industry to serious green house gas emissions at a time when fossil fuels should be reduced • failure to adequately implement the precautionary principle • Fragment forests and mar landscapes with new roads, well sites, waste pits and pipelines |
| Right to take part in the government, equal access to public service, the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government | • Government position is to facilitate the industry not the will of the people • People are not given adequate participation in the decisions made by the government to support the industry and remove the rights of the people • Cosy revolving door between the industry and government |
| Right to effective remedy | • Access to the legal system is out of reach of the average person • Inequity in the fight between individuals and multinationals with the government siding with the industry • Administering authority are inadequate and support the industry with little access for the average person for support in their concerns • Inequity in the arrangements where the individual is required to establish proof of impact • Inadequately provisioned compensatable effects |
| Right to Cultural Heritage, Land, no interference in home and privacy, family entitled to protection and social order | • Dislocation and division of community • Cultural appropriation by the industry • Inadequate consideration to the social impacts of the industry on the community |
For further details on how these human rights are impacted, See the presentation and comments of support given by Benedict Coyne, National President of ALHR