Strange bedfellows: inside the campaign for the black soil plains

Farmers have invited crossbench MPs to join the campaign against Santos's proposed coal seam gas development on the Liverpool plainsSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityIt feels like a genteel country garden party. The women prepare platters of food, tea and coffee. A marquee filled with chairs stands outside. It is the home of farmer Kate Gunn, looking out over Liverpool Plains, which is a mosaic of rich chocolate brown soil, crop stubble and grassland.Those plains and the land right up to the Pilliga forest near Narrabri are the reason people have gathered. They are preparing to fight Santos, the big gas company who holds the licenses for what lies beneath. BHP and the Chinese state-owned Shenhua have tried to access that resource and walked away. Continue reading...