CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian farmers demanded greater protection against coal seam gas miners eyeing their land for exploration as a political fight surrounding the $70 billion gas industry on Monday threatened to splinter the surging conservative opposition.
After months of tensions between farmers and miners over rapid expansion of the potentially lucrative industry across prime agricultural land, the influential Greens party called for new laws to give farmers stronger rights to keep coal seam exploration rigs off their land.