Actor Michael Caton said his concern about the threat to water from coal seam gas mining and the apathy of the general public encouraged him to join the campaign against the controversial mining activity.
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The star of The Castle said there is mounting evidence that CSG mining is dangerous to the environment and people's health. He said the entire country should be outraged by what gas companies are doing and how landowners are being treated.
"I thought the cities are very disconnected and from what I hear Dubbo is disconnected, Mr Caton said.
"Water is the scarcest resource in Australia and it is under threat because once the chemicals used in fracking get into the water table and the Great artesian basin, you just can't get them out."
"The gas companies are finally having to admit that peoples health is being affected. They were previously only buying out properties for infrastructure but now they are buying out properties because the people are having health issues.
Mr Caton grew up on a property in central Queensland and used to work in pumping and irrigation before becoming an actor. When he heard about some of the areas that were coming under threat from CSG, he said he decided to get involved.
"When you have places like the Liverpool Plains, which along with the Darling Downs are some of the most productive places in the world, you can't just go putting gas bores down without affecting the water table," he said.
"I can't believe the short sightedness of wanting to put gas in because while the gas companies will be gone in 20 or 30 years, farming would be around for generations to come. Companies say they can work alongside farmers but that just isn't the case and once farmers give access to these companies, they can't get rid of them."