The State Government says it has delivered on another election commitment with the introduction of laws into Parliament last week to reinstate vegetation protection measures stripped away by the former LNP government.
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, who introduced the Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, said Labor’s record on tree-clearing stacked up.
“Labor recognised in the past that tree-clearing rates in Queensland were unacceptable, we took action and we got results,” the Deputy Premier said.
“The former LNP government inherited sound, effective vegetation management laws and gutted them.
“The Palaszczuk Government promised to restore Queensland’s nation-leading vegetation management laws. This Bill delivers on that promise.”
The Statewide Land Cover and Tree Study for 2012-2014 (SLATS) showed that the annual rate of clearing increased from 153,638 hectares before the LNP was elected to a new level where almost 300,000 hectares were now being cleared every year.
Environment Minister Steven Miles said this demonstrated tree-clearing rates in Queensland had once again reached unacceptable levels.
“That’s an area more than twice the size of Brisbane or 10 times the size of the city of Rockhampton being cleared every single year,” Dr Miles said.
“We’re seeing forests and trees that provide habitat for vulnerable native wildlife like koalas being bulldozed at alarming rates. That simply has to stop.
“The reckless approach of the LNP to tree-clearing also puts at risk our beloved Great Barrier Reef and the livelihoods of so many Queenslanders who depend on it. It is riparian vegetation that holds riverbanks together, that keeps sediment on the land and out of the Great Barrier Reef.
“This Bill will help protect the Great Barrier Reef by extending the protection of regrowth vegetation in watercourse areas from three to all six Reef catchments.
“We also know that land-clearing is a key contributor to greenhouse gas pollution. Queensland generates some 36 million tonnes of emissions every year by land clearing alone.
“That more than wipes out the Federal Government’s expensive, ineffective direct action fund and puts in doubt Australia’s ability to meet our international carbon pollution reduction targets.
“At a time when the rest of the world is reducing their emissions, Queensland is driving Australia’s emissions up thanks to the LNP’s land-clearing laws.”
The Bill reinstates the vegetation management framework in place prior to 2012 by:
- reinstating the protection of high value regrowth on freehold and indigenous land
- removing provisions which permit clearing applications for high value agriculture and irrigated high value agriculture, and …
- reinstating compliance provisions for the reverse onus of proof and removing the ‘mistake of fact’ defence for vegetation clearing offences
In order to address the risk of panic clearing, the Bill includes retrospective conditions that will require restoration of any unlawful clearing that occurs between the introduction and passage of the Bill.
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“Last Thursday night in State Parliament, the Labor Government tried to push through their changes to the Vegetation Management Laws,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“Labor brought the Bill before the House in the late hours of the final sitting day this week, with no notice whatsoever.
“I want to assure people in my electorate that as both the Shadow Minister for Agriculture and the Member for Nanango, I will be fighting against these new laws the whole way.
“We will stand with Queensland landholders and help have their voices heard.”
Mrs Frecklington said the Government had attempted to reduce the consultation process for the legislation to just 17 days over the upcoming Easter holiday period.
“Thankfully, a motion the LNP Opposition put before the House to have this extended until June was successful, so farmers have time to get their heads around what this legislation is going to mean for them, and then have the opportunity to have their say.
“By the Government’s own admission, limited consultation was undertaken in the development of the Bill.
“It was essential Labor do not get away with pushing this through the House by stealth.”
Mrs Frecklington said the key amendments in the Bill that rural landholders should pay close attention to were:
- the removal of High Value Agriculture and Irrigated High Value Agriculture from the Vegetation Management Framework
- re-introducing reverse onus of proof
- no compensation will be payable to HVA, IHVA and Property Map of Assessable Vegetation (PMAV) applicants during transitional arrangements
- the inclusion of High Value Regrowth as an additional layer of regulation under the Vegetation Management Framework on leasehold, freehold and indigenous land
- increasing Category R vegetation to include the Burdekin, Mackay, Whitsunday and Wet Tropics Great Barrier Reef catchments and including the Burnett Mary, Eastern Cape York and Fitzroy as additional catchments
