Anti-CSG group demands Qld inquiry

THE Queensland government is facing calls for a full public inquiry into rushed CSG project approvals.

Former Queensland bureaucrat-turned whistleblower Simone Marsh claims approval for an $18 billion Santos project and a $20 billion Queensland Gas Company (QGC) project in 2010 was rushed through without crucial information.

The senior environmental specialist told the ABC's Four Corners program she and other decision-makers did not have information necessary to properly assess the environmental impact of the projects.

A spokesman for Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney says the claims are nothing new and are under investigation by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).

The government will not be commenting on the issue, he says, but green groups aren't holding back.

The Lock the Gate Alliance says the CMC should hold a public inquiry to address the issue.

"Any public servant who has signed an environmental authority for any of these projects has breached several sections of the Environmental Protection Act and, therefore, is likely to have committed official misconduct," Mr Hutton said.

"This situation came about because of improper political pressure that was placed on the public servants, as Simone Marsh has described."

Santos and QGC agreed with the government that the allegations had been aired previously.

They said they complied with all government requirements and did not try to influence the approvals process.

Industry spokesman Rick Wilkinson, who heads the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, told the program the right procedures were followed.

"And there were many checks and balances on the way through," he said.

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said as far as she knew, there was not a push to approve CSG projects under the former Labor government.

"I do not recall any pressure whatsoever," she said.

"I know we had strict environmental guidelines. I know that these guidelines were followed; however I was not the minister responsible.

"So I am not going to speak for the other ministers."

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Vaccination group must have online warning

AN organisation that aims to discourage parents from vaccinating their children has been ordered to place a consumer warning on its websites and Facebook page.

NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts issued a formal order earlier this year that the Australian Vaccination Network change its name or be deregistered.

But the organisation attempted to thwart the minister's order by appealing in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

Tribunal president, Judge O'Connor, responded to a bid by the AVN to stay proceedings on Friday by placing a number of conditions on the organisation.

A prominent consumer warning must be published on its websites and Facebook page by March 26.

It will state: "NSW Fair Trading has directed the AVN to change its name because it regards the name to be misleading.

"The AVN is challenging this direction and the challenge is currently before the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal."

The controversial group has been attacked by doctors and scientists for discouraging parents from vaccinating their children.

NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts said the action was in the interests of public health.

"The AVN's name does not accurately reflect the organisation's purpose and what it stands for, which is primarily to discourage the immunisation of children," he said in a statement on Friday.

"This is about being open and upfront about what you stand for, not hiding behind a name which could mislead the community about a very significant public health issue."

Mr Roberts said Fair Trading would pursue its case against the AVN at the tribunal's next hearing, saying its name should "more accurately describes its purpose".

A two-day hearing has been set for June 13 and 14.

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