Farmers vs miners

‘We’d all be better off if farmers had the right to say NO to miners’ is the topic of the next IQ2 Sydney debate on 21 August (iq2oz.com). Australian governments have claimed that our collective prosperity depends on our vast mineral and energy resources and have exercised ultimate control, then granting rights of exploration and access to land otherwise used for productive purposes. Despite helping to feed the nation and preserve a distinctive way of rural life, farmers have no right to keep the miners off their land. Nor can farmers exercise control over how the extractive industries affect a vital commons—the quality of our water. As the need for food security intensifies, is it time to grant famers new legal entitlements to control access to their land? Or would this simply allow farmers to enrich themselves trading public goods for their private interest?