Lazarus pushed for the inquiry following the suicide of Queensland farmer George Bender last year following protracted land access disagreements with Linc Energy and CSG operators such as Origin Energy.

His report makes 18 recommendations including the establishment of a Commonwealth unconventional gas mining commissioner, the formation of a national management strategy, the cessation of further approvals for developments and an end to fraccing, and the establishment of a landowner right of veto.

Lazarus also wants a resources ombudsman to support Australians affected by developments and greater funding of community legal service to balance the disparate power issues between well-funded resource companies and farmers.

He also wants to see more medical support for those who claim to be affected by unconventional gas, and long-term studies by the National Health and Medical Research Council into the potential health effects of the unconventional gas mining industry, combined with greater baseline and ongoing testing.

Transparency would also be improved by a Western Australia-style national chemical register for products used in fraccing, while E&P companies would be required to put money into trusts for workers, landholders and environmental rehabilitation.

His report also urges and end to political donations from resource companies to political parties, the greater uptick of green energy sources, and that a royal commission be held into the unconventional gas industry.

All of those were things Lazarus wanted to see going into the inquiry process, and after reading some 300 submissions and conducting multiple hearings, some of which supported the industry, the former rugby player’s mind did not shift.

Lazarus said he had heard scores of horror stories about the harm the industry is having on these communities and how they feared for the safety of their health, family, businesses and the environment, and how they felt powerless to prevent unconventional gas extraction or even express their opposition.

He said landowners felt hamstrung because the outcome of negotiations with unconventional gas companies seemed a foregone conclusion as farmers have no right to refuse access and are forced to negotiate compensation.

“The committee heard first-hand experiences of landowners' interaction with the resources industry and saw the volume of administration and information that must be accumulated, read, responded to and stored in the households of rural families, leading to significant constraints on their ability to undertake the operation of their businesses and lives,” he said.

He concluded that not only is more regulation needed, but that oilers need to prove they have a social licence to operate.

Labor senators Joseph Ludwig and Anne McEwen said much of the evidence heard by the committee was anecdotal, and that it could not establish whether the symptoms presented by people living in the Western Downs Region or the claimed environmental impacts were caused by unconventional gas.

Indeed, the Labor senators said the regular payments for land access and the significant opportunities generated by unconventional gas mining regarding employment and regional development, particularly in northern Australia were worth backing.

LNP Senators – WA’s David Johnston and Qld’s Joanna Lindgren – described gas as a vital source of energy, and said where there were issues the Commonwealth would address though the COAG Energy Council on an active gas sector reform.

“Experience has shown that existing regulatory frameworks can support communities, various industries and governments to effectively meet land access challenges, expectations and opportunities; and advance Australia’s sustainable development goals in agricultural production, mineral resource development, biodiversity and heritage conservation,” they wrote.

While backing none of Lazarus’ recommendations, the LNP senators agreed that access to agricultural land should only be done without landholder agreement, and that farmers should be fairly compensated.

They said prime agricultural land and quality water resources must not be compromised for future generations, and there must be no long-term damage to water resources used for agriculture and local communities from fraccing.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters simply restated her party’s opposition to unconventional gas, describing it as “risky and unnecessary”

“We stand with the thousands of community members, scientists, health professionals and food producers who do not want to risk their land, water and the climate for the sake the private profits of multi-national corporations flogging another fossil fuel to worsen global warming, when there are abundant clean energy alternatives,” she said.

While ALP and LNP Senators made no recommendations, Senator Waters supported moves to ban fraccing, beefing up landholder veto rights and banning political donations from mining companies, developers, tobacco, alcohol and gambling companies.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association concluded that the Lazarus report did not identify any factual or scientific evidence to support the “fear campaign peddled by industry opponents”

“Despite Senator Lazarus’ best efforts to enflame the debate, the committee report contains no evidence to support his headline-seeking attacks on the industry,” said APPEA CEO Dr Malcolm Roberts.

“Contrary to Senator Lazarus’ claims, there is no ‘genocide’ in Queensland.

“The industry saw the inquiry as an opportunity to put the facts on the public record. We appreciate the genuine interest shown by Coalition and Labor Senators participating in the inquiry.”

Dr Roberts said Senator Lazarus was not interested in the facts, and his recommendations were not supported by the evidence or the majority of his committee members.