What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
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Such is the scene at AgQuip in Gunnedah where oil and gas company Santos is matching blows with activists from the Liverpool Plains Action Group (LPAG).
The two each have a stand at the largest agricultural event in the country, and each wants landholders and the agricultural industry to lend an ear.
![The Liverpool Plains Action Group (LPAG) is at AgQuip to warn farmers of the effect of gas extraction on arable agricultural land. Picture by Peter Hardin The Liverpool Plains Action Group (LPAG) is at AgQuip to warn farmers of the effect of gas extraction on arable agricultural land. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/5bc07fad-c4b6-48ba-9135-8742639faf75.jpg/r0_0_6912_4608_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Santos says its controversial Narrabri Gas Project will create more jobs and more business opportunities in regional NSW and provide affordable energy for NSW homes.
According to information displayed at Santos' stall, the company has hired 16 locals so far and is providing $14.5 million to Narrabri council for local road maintenance and upgrades to Narrabri airport.
Staff at the Santos stall were not authorised to speak to the media.
However, four rows over - about 200 metres away - the Liverpool Plains Action Group also has a stall and is willing to talk to anyone that'll listen.
![TV, film, and stage actor Michael Caton joined the LPAG in their fight against oil and gas company Santos. Picture by Peter Hardin TV, film, and stage actor Michael Caton joined the LPAG in their fight against oil and gas company Santos. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/39ac89dc-c84d-40a8-828b-937b372f8f15.jpg/r0_0_8256_5504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
They're also packing some star power.
Actor Michael Caton, best known as Uncle Harry in the TV series The Sullivans and Darryl Kerrigan in 1997's hit film The Castle, says he's at AgQuip to help LPAG protect the region's agricultural productivity from water consumption and contamination from waste salt and pipeline leakages.
"The Liverpool Plains have incredible soil, fed by two water tables, and the crux of the matter is that water has to stay intact. You muck up that water table and it's the egg that can't be unscrambled," Mr Caton said.
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The celebrity says he's passionate about water issues due to his background in irrigation from before he was an actor.
Mr Caton said the agricultural productivity of the region around Gunnedah is "second only to the Ukraine," and lambasted the government for allowing Santos to test for gas on prime agricultural land.
"You've got all this controversy about the disruption of grains in the Black Sea, yet here in the Liverpool Plains we're talking about destruction, not disruption, and they're condoning it even though it's wrong," he said.
The LPAG is at AgQuip to convince farmers in the region to join their cause against Santos' projects in the region.
![About 200 meters away from where the LPAG is sharing information on coal seam gas extraction's harmful effect on groundwater resources, Santos has a stall dedicated to discussing the economic benefits of its Narrabri gas pipeline. Picture by Peter Hardin About 200 meters away from where the LPAG is sharing information on coal seam gas extraction's harmful effect on groundwater resources, Santos has a stall dedicated to discussing the economic benefits of its Narrabri gas pipeline. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/44517673-1e9d-4576-bd95-01f11130bdb1.jpg/r0_0_7406_4937_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We're here at the epicentre of future developments in NSW to meet and greet with local landholders and keep on talking about what's really important to agriculture: water," Quirindi farmer and former Greens candidate Peter Wills said.
"You're talking about building a pipeline that would last maybe 10 years at the cost of farming land that should last a lifetime. It's putting short-term profit for a small group of shareholders ahead of putting food on the table for hundreds of years."
Mr Wills also said even beyond environmental concerns there are problems with how Santos claims it's bringing economic benefits to the region.
"The Narrabri Gas Project is probably the most expensive gas project out there ... and for every 10 jobs the gas industry creates 18 are lost from agriculture," he said.
![Quirindi farmer and LPAG member Peter Wills. Picture by Peter Hardin Quirindi farmer and LPAG member Peter Wills. Picture by Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/200003594/c804b5d0-62ef-430a-bac0-4c4febdf7726.jpg/r0_0_6707_4471_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Santos' media team was contacted for comment.
The LPAG is also giving out brochures with more information, including a new research by University of New South Wales Emeritus Professor Ian Acworth, one of the nation's premier hydro geologists.
Professor Acworth's research says the level of groundwater in the Liverpool Plains has been decreasing gradually since the 80s, and that coal seam gas activities could push the water depletion beyond a point of no return, causing irreparable damage to farm land.
"Abstraction of groundwater from the coal seams to enable recovery of gas will immediately impact the whole groundwater resource - dropping levels even more dramatically than they already are. Irrigation supplies will not be sustained for very long and shallow farm domestic supplies will rapidly dry out," the professor's report reads.
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