Liberals move for late debate on fracking inquiry, chooses optional sitting day of Parliament
The South Australian Opposition has formally moved to set up a parliamentary inquiry into unconventional gas exploration in the state's south-east.
But the Liberals moved to debate the subject on December 10, an optional sitting day for Parliament that the Government says is unlikely to proceed if there is little on the agenda.
The motion's passage through the Lower House is also reliant on the support of two independent MPs, Geoff Brock and Martin Hamilton-Smith, who both sit on Labor's Cabinet.
State Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said the mining industry was furious with Opposition Leader Steven Marshall over the inquiry.
"The man whose two seats from becoming Premier of South Australia is flagging to the entire world that he is anti-gas, he's anti-oil and he's anti-business," he said.
"That scares them and that worries them.
"The oil and and gas sector, the mining sector, employ 15,000 people in this state and he's putting all that at risk."
The Greens have a similar motion to be debated in the Legislative Council next week.
Greens MLC Mark Parnell said they would offer to negotiate the terms of the inquiry with the Liberals but the Opposition's "heart was not in it".
"If their heart was in it, they would have put it to a vote in the chamber where it has a chance of winning," he said.
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Liberals move for late debate on fracking inquiry, chooses optional sitting day of Parliament