South Australia's Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis critical of NSW government over delays in approving Santos-backed Narrabri gas project

Mr Koutsantonis called NSW a "national disgrace" for dragging its feet on approving the project in an interview with the Australian Financial Review (AFR) Weekend, as he opposed a national coal and gas reserve and other forms of intervention to drive down prices.

The project, he said, was awaiting final approvals while the NSW government was deflecting and blaming everyone but themselves in the middle of a national energy crisis.

Western Australia's former treasurer Ben Wyatt has also criticised the delay in approving Narrabri; he has also cautioned the federal government against capping gas prices, arguing that it could deter foreign investment.

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The criticism in the AFR is polar-opposite to calls by Lock the Gate Alliance and its supporters to stop the development of the Pilliga gas fields and an associated pipeline that would supply the lower Hunter Valley.

The Alliance said resistance by landholders along the proposed pipeline corridor is one of the reasons why the pipeline should not be constructed, claiming it would have a massive impact on the food bowl that is the Liverpool Plains.

The Alliance also warns of the impact such a pipeline could have on three areas of regional koala significance, and a further group resisting the development of Santos' Pilliga/Narrabri gasfield itself is a group called the Gomeroi Nation, which has voted to oppose the project.

The Alliance also cites damage to gas pipelines in the recent flood events. One occurrence was on the Bundella road within the Liverpool Plains Shire Council local government area, where the pipeline was exposed to flood water damage at a causeway.

Another example cited was when the pipeline between Young and Lithgow was damaged, and many thousands of consumers were left without gas, as another reason to scrap the pipeline project.

A spokesman for the Australian Pipeline Association said work crews have installed mesh safety barriers at the site on Rockgedgiel Road, Bundella, and were continuing to monitor it.

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