OREANDA-NEWS. The Australian government is conducting inquiry into the funding of environmental groups in response to a campaign by the mining industry, raising the prospect of a clampdown on public debate over the balance between development and environmental protection.

Plans for the inquiry come amid rising debate in Australia over the impact of mining activities on the environment, which has led to moratoriums on coal-bed methane production being imposed in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria. And environmentalists are concerned over the planned development of vast coal resources in the Galilee basin in northern Queensland because of the impact on climate change and the Great Barrier Reef.

The 16 environmental groups that have most actively opposed mining have received about A\$75mn (\$57mn) in donations, the NSW Minerals Council said in its submission to the inquiry. A proportion of these donations is tax deductible, giving about A\$18mn in tax relief to the donors, the council estimated.

Most environmental groups are registered as charities, something that is also the case for many of the country's most influential political think-tanks including those that are linked to the ruling conservative coalition government.

The federal government should tighten tax rules on environmental groups and include governance of these organisations under the Charities Act 2013, the Queensland Resources Council said.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea), the main industry body for the oil and gas sector, said environmental activist groups that are primarily engaged in frustrating the lawful development of publicly owned resources fail the public interest test and should not qualify as charities or receive public subsidies.

Environmental activist organisations that are being subsidised by the community should be required to disclose the sources of their funding above reasonable threshold levels, Appea said.

Environmental groups should be deregistered if they have a track record of committing or promoting unlawful activities, said the Minerals Council of Australia, which represents coal producers. Responsibility for administering the register of environmental groups should be transferred from the department of environment to the Australian Taxation Office, it said.

The inquiry has received more than 650 submissions. The Law Council of Australia, the peak body for the country's legal profession, said current funding arrangements should remain largely unchanged.

The resources industry uses 41 of the 266 registered lobbying firms in Australia, giving it one of the largest such shares of any such sector, think-tank the Australia Institute said.