Aborigine uproar as CSG sites disappear THE NSW Aboriginal Land Council will miss out on a ­series of valuable mining licences as part of the Baird government's coal seam gas revamp. Resources Minister ­Anthony Roberts announced plans last week to reopen the CSG industry, which has been beset by safety fears and ­community protests, in order to boost gas supplies and lower household bills. As a first step, the government is cancelling 16 pending gas exploration applications put on ice during chief scientist Mary O'Kane's study of the CSG industry and its extraction methods. Six of those applications ­belong to the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and cover exploration for conventional petroleum gas deposits and possible CSG extraction sites in the state's far west. Land Council chairman Craig Cromelin said losing the applications was a blow to indigenous communities, who had hoped to secure a jobs and cash windfall through mining. "We certainly think we're being unfairly treated," Mr Cromelin said. If Aboriginal people are going to break out of the ­dependency system that exists we're going to have to be given an opportunity to prove that we can make a fist of businesses like gas extraction. The Land Council, which had appointed a gas industry partner to help develop its proposed mining projects, wants the government to reconsider its plan to scrap its six applications. It is prepared to accept a ban on CSG mining if it can proceed on the basis that it would mine gas using other methods. A spokesman for Mr Roberts said the Land Council would be able to reapply, should the land where it wants to explore become available again under the state government's new CSG regime, which is expected to be formalised next year. "New areas of exploration will only be released after an assessment of economic environmental and social factors," the spokesman said. Originally published as Aborigine uproar as CSG sites disappear