MP Rejects Facebook Claims … Again

April 27, 2016

by Anne Miller

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has again been forced to put on record that she is not backing Moreton Resources’ planned coal mine near Kingaroy.

A mini-firestorm erupted on social media on Wednesday afternoon after Mrs Frecklington chatted with a parent after an award ceremony at a local school.

The parent lives near Goodger so is understandably concerned about the prospect of an open cut coal mine possibly going ahead near his home.

He spoke to Mrs Frecklington about this, and asked her if he should be worried.

Unbeknown to Mrs Frecklington, he was recording the conversation on his mobile phone.

When he got home, he put the following post on Facebook:

The same post was cut-and-pasted across multiple South Burnett groups, including buy-sell-and-swap sites.

The comments that followed were predictable.

By this time, Mrs Frecklington was on her way to attend a public meeting in her electorate at Crows Nest when her phone started ringing with people wanting to know about the conversation.

southburnett.com.au also phoned Mrs Frecklington’s office when the posts appeared and later spoke to Mrs Frecklington directly.

She says that at no time did she say the mine was definitely going ahead.

Mrs Frecklington also refuted suggestions made in the multiple comment strings that the posts provoked:

• No, she doesn’t own any shares in Moreton Resources, and she didn’t own any shares in Cougar Energy, either.

• No, she has not sold any land to Moreton Resources, and doesn’t own any land in the area Moreton is interested in. She invited people to check her public register of interests, which all MPs by law must maintain.

• No, she is not dining regularly with Moreton Resources; in fact, she does not believe she has spoken to Moreton managing director Jason Elks for at least a year.

So what about the recording of the conversation?

I asked Jesse and Scotty to provide us with a copy to judge for ourselves if their original Facebook post was correct.

To their credit, they emailed through a sound file, which they asked us not to share with anyone for privacy reasons.

I listened carefully to the file, and checked it with some editing software that I have installed.

The quality of the file is very poor in parts, and there is a lot of wind noise and children talking, which I would expect from a recording made outside a school.

There is also at least one section where my software suggested the file had been edited.

I quizzed Scotty about this and he replied that the “first min 33 is a private conversation with identifying details about another party and not part of the conversation with Deb”.

He said he did not set out to record Mrs Frecklington but was already recording when the conversation took place.

So, does the sound recording support the suggestions that were in the original Facebook post, ie that the mine will definitely go ahead and that Mrs Frecklington supports this, and that Goodger and the airport will be wiped out?

The couple definitely believe so, with Scotty and Jesse defending their original post vehemently on Facebook.

* * *

However, I can say quite clearly, in my honest opinion “no”.

Mrs Frecklington stated – as I have heard her say on other occasions – that Moreton Resources has not even applied for the mine as yet.

She says she is not anti-mining, as she supports “the mine” (in context, she is clearly referring to the current mine at Meandu) and the Acland development.

Mrs Frecklington describes the area that Moreton’s exploration permit covers, which includes the airport and Goodger (ie Kingaroy Tenement  EPC882, well-known for decades.)

It is after this point that I believe the file has been edited.

Mrs Frecklington also says Moreton Resources have been suggesting publicly that people don’t oppose the mine, so she suggests Scotty visit the Moreton Resources office in Kingaroy and put to them his concerns directly.

I would have liked to have shared what the couple sent me – or at least a transcript of the recording – to allow our readers to judge for themselves, but I was not given permission to do this, despite asking.

However, from another Facebook post, it appears Scotty and Jesse may have sent a copy of the file to the anti-mine Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group for them to listen to.

I believe the couple were genuinely trying to raise awareness on Facebook about the mine, and why it should be opposed. However, I also believe they misheard what Mrs Frecklington was actually saying.

I will have to wait to see now if the KCCG agrees with my interpretation.

Mrs Frecklington put a note on her Facebook page this afternoon expressing her disappointment:

NB.  The Facebook clips are from my own personal Facebook account, so parts of a comment stream from people I have blocked personally for other reasons may not be appearing.

• Related article: MP Rejects Facebook Rumours

UPDATED: Scotty has contacted southburnett.com.au to say that the recording has not been sent to the KCCG (see comments below report). He also has emphasised that all the Facebook posts under Jesse’s name are by him.