Farmers say they can be trusted not to go overboard if tree-clearing laws are relaxed in Queensland. Source: The Australian
Opponents say the reforms will reignite the state’s forest wars and threaten biodiversity and endangered animals.
Lobby group AgForce has appeared before a state parliamentary committee that’s considering changes to the Vegetation Management Act to boost food production and jobs.
Farmers could clear their land as they see fit for “high-value agriculture”, and the onus of proof would be reversed so they aren’t automatically prosecuted for mistakes.
AgForce chief executive Charles Burke said farmers are bogged down in bureaucracy and go about their daily work in fear of prosecution. He says he’s offended by the suggestion there will be a free-for-all if laws are changed.
“We’re not suggesting for a minute that we are looking to revert back to unsustainable practices,” Burke told the committee on Wednesday.
“We’ve come a long way.
“There will always be outliers in any industry who will do things that go against the tide and the norm, and we don’t wish to represent them.”
The Local Government Association of Queensland is concerned that increased clearing would lead to more sediment during floods which would damage water treatment plants, infrastructure, as well as the health of fisheries.
“The allowance of self-assessable clearing for the likelihood of natural disasters will result in significant unintended consequences,” the association said.
National Parks Minister Steve Dickson promised there would be no tree clearing in “pristine” national parks but didn’t offer the same protections to state forests. He didn’t want to “pre-empt” a review currently under way into how the government manages 12.5 million hectares of land.
Pressed in parliament, Dickson claimed the Newman government would be remembered as “the greenest government you’ve ever seen”, triggering laughter from opposition MPs.
Opposition environment spokeswoman Jackie Trad said the laws would lead to indiscriminate land clearing in high conservation areas and a return to the forest wars of the last century.
The WWF-Australia said the government had broken an election promise to retain the laws.
The Wilderness Society fears native vegetation would be cleared, devastating threatened and endangered animals and plants.
Greens Queensland Senator Larissa Waters said pristine areas of Cape York will be opened up for logging, large scale farming and dams.
“This seems like a deliberate attempt by Campbell Newman to undermine the current World Heritage nomination process,” she said.
Waters chastised Minister for Natural Resources Andrew Cripps for delivering a speech on Wednesday to the Rural Press Club, titled Taking the Axe to Queensland’s Tree Clearing Laws.
Cripps said the Bligh government allowed the pendulum to swing too far towards extreme green policies.
“We are cutting red tape to ensure farmers can go about their daily business without being treated like criminals,” he said.
