“Your certainly don’t extract coal seam gas unless the farmer says you can” – pre-election speech 2013
“We’ve got to make sure that every molecule of gas that can come out of the ground does so” – after his appointment as minister in government
On the day Ian McFarlane was confirmed as the new Minister for Industry, encompassing resources, science and manufacturing, he dismissed the opposition to the CSG industry as unscientific and driven by small but vocal interest groups.
“I’m not interested in noisy protesters, minority groups, with no interest in the development of regional Australia and the economic progress of agriculture and mining together. They simply want to politicise this issue and tell lies.”
Ian became Chief Executive of the Queensland Resources Council in September 2016, and he is a non-executive director of Woodside Petroleum and the Chairman of the Innovative Manufacturing Co-operative Research Centre. McFarlane retired from parliament in May 2016.
In a similar case to Martin Fergusson, Mcfarlane’s appointment seemed to breach the ministerial standards which requires that ex-ministers not engage in lobbying for an eighteen-month period after ceasing to be a minister.
Despite retaining his position as Chief Executive of the Queensland Resources Council, in which he lobbies on behalf of some of Australia’s largest carbon emitters, in late 2021 the Morrison government appointed Macfarlane to the board of the CSIRO, Australia’s lead science agency
Minister Macfarlane Should Speak to NSW CSG Stakeholders
19 September 2013 – NSW Irrigators – The New South Wales Irrigators Council says incoming Federal Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane, should carefully consider the concerns of irrigation farmers before dismissing them as “noisy protesters, minority groups, with no interest in the economic progress of agriculture and mining together.”
Council Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gregson says that irrigators, contrary to Minister Macfarlane’s reported comments, have been at the forefront of investigating ways to sustainably coexist with coal seam gas.
“We’re doing our very best to ensure that the short-term benefit of gas operations can be achieved for regional NSW without significant or possibly irreparable damage to long-term sustainable irrigation farming.
“A headlong dash toward gas development without careful forethought has caused significant damage elsewhere on the planet. It is vital that NSW not follow that path – and we’ll make no apology for urging caution.
“If the “precautionary principle” is the standard for environmental management, it should also apply to impacts on long term sustainable irrigated agriculture vis a viz gas development.
Council noted the comments of Minister Macfarlane that 4,000 farmers in Queensland are “reaping the economic and social benefits” of gas development.
“Minister Macfarlane should not confuse compliance to legal requirements with acceptance of an activity. Land owners have no legal right to deny access to mining companies – even though the Coalition Policy at the recent election stated that the farmer should the have the right to say yes or not to coal seam gas … on their property.
“We look forward to Minister Macfarlane working with stakeholders – including us – in NSW to ensure that gas development here is not at the expense of sustainable, long term economic and social benefit derived from agriculture.”
The above media release by the NSW Irrigator’s Council is published in full
Ian McFarlane bio
Ian Elgin Macfarlane (born 5 April 1955) was elected as a member of the Australian House of Representatives in October 1998, representing the Division of Groom, Queensland for the Liberal National Party. Macfarlane has been the Minister for Industry in the Abbott Government since 18 September 2013.
Mr MacFarlane comes from Kingaroy in Queensland and was a farmer and president of the Queensland Graingrowers Association before entering politics. ABC rural reporter Judy Kennedy gave him the nickname “Chainsaw”.
In 2006, Clive Hamilton, director of The Australia Institute, identified Macfarlane as one of Australia’s climate change “dirty dozen” (or Greenhouse Mafia), a group of climate change sceptics with considerable influence over Australian Government policy.
In an interview with Four Corners in 2009, Macfarlane conceding that he now recognised man’s role in the process.
As a minister in the Coalition Government under John Howard he held the portfolio of Minister for Small Business from January 2001, before being promoted to the Cabinet role of Industry, Tourism and Resources in November 2001.
After the defeat of the Liberal/Nationals in 2007 Mr MacFarlane was the Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources. With the election of the Abbott Coalition government in September 2013 he was appointed Minister for Industry.
