IN A month that has seen civil disobedience at Tara, the shutdown of a gas pipeline and a series of angry protest rallies, it can be difficult to see a compromise between farmers and miners on the horizon.
But Queensland Resources Council chief executive, Michael Roche, extended an olive branch of sorts to the agriculture sector during a speech at Toowoomba last Friday, calling for a new age of communication between the rivalling industries.
However, the speech to the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce was laden with sharp rebukes towards critics of the resources sector, which he believed amount to the "cynical exploitation of the public's misunderstanding about the roles of resource exploration and development".
"Our goal must be to do a much better job of explaining our industries, so that Queensland's two great primary industries can co-exist as good neighbours," Mr Roche said.
"I am not proposing to stand here and defend the indefensible. Some of the companies we represent - and many more we don't - have made mistakes, and in the worst examples have taken far too long to remedy them.
"The number-one priority for all resource proponents must be to earn the trust of the communities in which they propose to operate."
Mr Roche added that despite critics promoting "apocalyptic visions of Queensland's transformation into a giant hole in the ground," the resource sector physically impacted on only 0.09 percent of the State's land mass, compared to 2.1pc currently used for cropping.
He also repeated the tired claim by mining companies and State Government that "exploration permits rarely translate into mines".
Mr Roche said he gained a new appreciation for the farming sector during a recent tour of properties surrounding Chinchilla and Dalby, hosted by Future Food Queensland and the Basin Sustainability Alliance.
"The men and women of the land deserve our respect and a greater openness in understanding and responding to their concerns," he said.
"I wonder if even some of these messages had been taken on board more enthusiastically a few years ago, the region would still be the focus of negative media attention."
Mr Roche said Haystack Road and Jimbour Plain - areas recently at threat from open-cut coal mining - should be at "the top" of any listed strategic cropping legislation.
"They are clear examples of where the criteria for the 'best of the best' cropping land are as plain as the nose on your face," he said.
"What's also instructive is that the qualities that make those areas prime agricultural land do not extend automatically to adjoining properties.
"Until we are talking to each other face to face instead of via media releases, we cannot hope to reach a co-operative landing on a host of emerging issues."
And while the agriculture sector has repeatedly voiced concerns for its viability with the onset of mining, Mr Roche delivered another bleak message for the resources sector at the Australian Copper Conference a day earlier.
Mr Roche said the lure of mining in Queensland was "in free fall", pointing to the Fraser Institute's index which ranked Queensland the 38th best place to mine in 2010-11, down from 8th spot in 2006-07.
"2010 was a horrible year for policies affecting the attractiveness and ease of exploration in Queensland," he told the Brisbane conference last Thursday.
"We had sweeping changes that complicated land access for explorers, the continuing roll-out of the Wild Rivers policy ... the threat of strategic cropping land legislation, as well as growing landholder activism and agitation."
Mr Roche said green groups were "becoming the farmers' new best friends" - referring to the new allegiance against the growing gas industries on the Darling Downs.
Further adding to the woes of those seeking a compromise between the farmers and miners, a survey released this week by rural research and communications company, Kaliber Group, revealed a sharp divide in opinions among farmers on whether agriculture and mining, including coal seam gas, could co-exist.
The researchers surveyed 1486 farmers throughout January and February 2011, including all states and all major farming types, and found 65pc of Queensland landholders believed the two sectors could not exist side by side.
Overall, 57pc of Australian farmers believed the two sectors could not co-exist.
The survey found that in farming regions directly impacted by mining activities, such as the Darling Downs, the number of landholders who believed the two sectors could work harmoniously dropped to as low as 30pc.
"The findings from this survey confirm a growing trend that we have seen over the past few years, with the increasing mobilisation of some local farming communities against mining in their area," said Kaliber research director, Bob Sloane.
"It's likely those farmers in communities that are under threat from mining, including coal seam gas, felt that their livelihoods and their ability to feed the growing population are under threat."
Surat Basin Engagement Committee chairman, John Cotter, who listened to Mr Roche's speech on Friday and will this week hold the first meeting of the newly formed engagement group, said while there were obvious disagreements between the mining and agriculture sectors, he remained hopeful a solution could be reached.
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