AGL has launched a new advertising campaign it says will build understanding of the importance of coal seam gas in the NSW energy mix and the reliance on gas in everyday lives.
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The campaign, launched on Sunday, will include television and newspaper advertisements starting with ads titled ‘A Day in the Life’.
AGL’s group manager of upstream gas Mike Moraza said the campaign underlined the coexistence of coal seam gas projects with farming and local communities and how it underpinned many day-to-day activities.
“The advertisements aim to convey some of the many ways we use gas every day; it heats our showers, fuels the school bus and powers our manufacturing industry,” he said.
“We also feature AGL’s Camden Gas Project, which has safely produced natural gas from coal seams for 13 years side-by-side local agricultural activities and produces around five per cent of the State’s gas needs. The community has indicated it would like more information about coal seam gas.
“The advertising campaign is one of our many initiatives to increase awareness and understanding of the important role gas plays in NSW.
“In addition to the television and newspaper advertisements, we are engaging face-to-face in local communities, holding public meetings, conducting regular open days, participating in local events, and connecting through the YourSayAGL website.”
But opponents of AGL’s operations in Gloucester say the campaign is another indication that the company does not have a social license for its coal seam gas (CSG) project.
“AGL has sponsored annual surveys on public attitudes to CSG,” Groundswell Gloucester vice president David Hare-Scott said.
“When asked how supportive they are of CSG exploration in NSW, 12 per cent and 13 per cent of the sample replied ‘supportive’ in 2012 and 2013 respectively. AGL has carefully not revealed the result of their 2014 survey from months ago.”
Mr Hare-Scott said AGL had spent $10 million in the last financial year on public relations promoting CSG.
“In their annual report they report that the cost of community liaison over upstream gas for 2013-14 was $10 million dollars, up from $6 million the previous year,” he said.
“This campaign will do nothing to enhance community awareness and understanding because, like much of the gas industry and State government material, it tells only one side of the story.”
