Food Security and Mining

MINING would take second place to food security when assessing competing land use claims if the Coalition were elected at next month's state election, with a halt proposed for all new mine and gas exploration licences for up to a year pending further study.

In a dramatic overhaul to the way contested land use is handled, a Coalition government would establish as a central tenet that strategic agricultural land is a finite resource that must be conserved to ensure future food security.

There would also be tighter environmental control of proposed mines and gas fields, and more active monitoring of water resources, especially in parts of the state where several mines have been proposed.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-ele...mining-in-land-use-policy-20110215-1av7k.html

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