Rural community angered by gas firm-branded suicide prevention advice

Friends of a farmer who killed himself following a long dispute with the industry furious at being handed Lifeline leaflets with gas company branding

Gas company funding of suicide prevention counselling in Queensland's gasfields has sparked fresh controversy after a government department distributed a brochure for the service to friends of a farmer who took his life after a long battle with the industry.

Family friends of the late George Bender, whose suicide in October brought national attention to rural community tensions with gas companies, were furious to receive the Queensland Gas Company-branded leaflet at a meeting with the state's chief health officer, Jeanette Young, last month in Chinchilla.