The toxic greed of Australia’s gas-led recovery

Rosemary Nankivell is a farmer and grazier on the Liverpool Plains, producing Angus and F1 Wagyu cattle, as well as broad acre farming. Since 2008, Rosemary has been involved in fighting for the preservation of these plains for agriculture. They have been lucky in managing to stop BHP and more recently Shenhua from mining on the Plains but unfortunately, they are now fighting coal seam gas (CSG).

Susan Park is a Professor of Global Governance at the University of Sydney. Susan researches how intergovernmental organisations become greener and more accountable and how accountability can be used to improve global environmental governance. Her research has focused on Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including the World Bank, World Bank Group and African, Asian, Inter-American Development Banks and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

David Ritter is the Chief Executive Officer of Greenpeace Australia Pacific.  He has been with Greenpeace for nine years, campaigning to secure an earth capable of nurturing life in all its amazing diversity. Prior to joining Greenpeace, David worked as an academic and a lawyer in both commercial and native title practices. David is a widely published commentator on politics, law, history and current affairs. His most recent book is The Coal Truth: The Fight to Stop Adani, Defeat the Big Polluters and Reclaim our Democracy (UWA Publishing, 2018).

Madeline Taylor is a Senior Lecturer at Macquarie Law School and a Climate Councillor at the Climate Council. She specialises in Energy and Natural Resources Law and specifically examines the intersection between energy regulation, energy policy, land contestation and landholder rights. In particular, her research advances a novel examination of transitioning energy regulation and energy policy conflicts from a comparative and socio-legal perspective, including the strategic governance of energy and the fragmentation of ownership rights between the state, corporations and landholders. Her recent book entitled, Agricultural Land Use and Natural Gas Extraction Conflicts: A Global Socio-Legal Perspective, examines the socio-regulatory dimensions of coexistence between agricultural and onshore unconventional gas land uses in the jurisdictions with the highest concentration of proven unconventional gas reserves.

Gemma Viney is the Research Lead on Anti-Mining Community Movements at the Sydney Environment Institute and is currently completing a PhD in the Department of Government and International relations. Gemma was an Honours Research Fellow with the Sydney Environment Institute in 2017. She has a Bachelors degree in International and Global Studies from the University of Sydney, and a First-class Honours Degree in the Department of Government and International Relations.