Members of the PURE team (Chris Duke – team leader, Steve Garlick and Pat Inman) visited the Darling Downs area of south-east Queensland. The sponsors of the visit were the University of Southern Queensland and Regional Development  Australia. The program for the visit included:

• Interviews with senior management at USQ and a discussion with staff involved in community engagement initiatives in the region;
• A discussion with community members in the area organised by Regional Development Australia;
• A visit to the town of Dalby, west of Toowoomba to meet with local council members to discuss economic, social and environmental issues arising from the coal seam gas developments in the area, and the growth of agriculture around the cotton industry. The team visited a coal seam gas site, cotton farming sites, and spoke with people involved in providing services for these developments (education, housing etc);
• Meeting with representatives of the Toowoomba Regional Council and business/ industry representatives  who had been to Paris recently to promote Toowoomba as a liveable city to UNESCO personnel.

The PURE team (Chris Duke, Steve Garlick and Pat Inman) with staff of USQ (University of Southern Queensland) and RDA (Regional Development Australia) following the ‘debriefing meeting’ at the end of the PURE visit.

Some of the classified soil samples resulting from the coring procedure used at the Arrow Energy site on the Darling Downs. These represent different levels (depth) of core samples and are checked for a range of characteristics, porosity being one of the most important.

Chris Duke discussing Coal -seam Gas exploration at the Arrow Energy site with one of the managers of the project near Dalby on the Darling Downs in Queensland.

Glen Postle AM (Hon Prof - USQ)