October 9, 2017
Member for Gympie Tony Perrett has labelled city voters as “wealthy, unproductive inner-city green zealots” while defending farmers of claims of irresponsible land-clearing.
Mr Perrett said the ALP was desperate to hold on to inner-city Brisbane seats, which was why two Labor Ministers had resorted to “farmer bashing and distorting figures about vegetation clearing”.
Last week, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Environment Minister Steven Miles described the results of the latest Statewide Land and Tree Cover Study (SLATS) as “alarming” and blamed the LNP’s “relaxed” vegetation management laws which the ALP has been unable to change.
“The claims are nothing more than purely about saving their political skins by demonising regional landholders in order to appease the wealthy, unproductive inner-city green zealots,” Mr Perrett said.
“It is pure electioneering by two left-wing Ministers who are trashing the reputations of farmers and landholders.
“Using emotive language and nonsense comparisons to paint a doomsday scenario the fearmongering over the release of the 2015-2016 SLATS was true to form for the Labor Government which pays lip service to the regions.”
The State Government’s SLATS report uses satellite data to monitor changes to Queensland’s native vegetation.
The latest report, released on September 22, showed that in 2015-2016, 395,000ha of bushland were cleared in Queensland, up one-third on the previous year; 138,000ha was remnant vegetation.
However, Mr Perrett said the Labor Party had bumped up the figures over land clearing by including practices such as “fodder harvesting to feed starving livestock, and clearing firebreaks and fence lines”.
“There was no consideration of vegetation thickening rates or acknowledgement that farmers are already unable to clear remnant vegetation,” he said.
“Not considering thickening rates is like watching the tide go out and then claiming the sea water has disappeared.”
Mr Perrett said he was not aware of any broad-scale clearing in the Gympie region.
“As a landholder and grazier my observation is that it is thickening faster than it can be controlled in areas that have previously been cleared, or had absolutely no history of clearing,” Mr Perrett said.
“Living in their inner-city concrete jungles you just have to wonder whether the Ministers and green activists understand the concept that plants and vegetation actually regenerate.
“If they do know that, then this is nothing more than a deliberate, manipulative and calculatingly dishonest attack in a relentless campaign against regional Queensland.
“Selectively using data and ignoring the gaping holes in the SLATS report, which did not contain data that provides clear context to the extent of vegetation management activities, was just too convenient for the Minsters who rely on green preferences for their seats.
“About 50 per cent of Queensland is covered by woody vegetation, so the vegetation management activities in this SLATS report represents just 0.23 per cent of the State.
“If you just consider the area of Queensland covered by woody vegetation, the total management footprint represents about 0.45 per cent of that area – which is still less than 1 per cent.
“It is only just over 12 months ago that the LNP was able to secure a reprieve for landholders and farmers by rejecting the Government’s draconian vegetation management laws which would have undermined and gutted our strong agricultural sector.”
An attempt by the State Government to toughen land-clearing laws failed in August 2016 when cross-benchers – including two Katter’s Australia Party MPs – sided with the Opposition.
“As Deputy Chair of the committee which investigated that legislation I said then that the Deputy Premier will not stop driving the green activists’ agenda in Cabinet,” Mr Perrett said.
“They are determined to do anything to get what they want even if it reduces the productivity of the agricultural sector and threaten jobs in regional Queensland.
“Let there be no misunderstanding this Labor Government and any future Labor Governments will keep revisiting this issue until they succeed.
“The government is more interested in paying lip service to supporting the regions with the Premier turning a blind eye to the activities of her left-wing Cabinet colleagues because she needs to win seats in the city to save her own job.
“The LNP laws were sensible and balanced and allowed farmers and graziers to get on with the important jobs of producing our food and fibre, and protecting Queensland’s precious environment.
“Under our laws landholders need a permit to manage vegetation and have to abide by a code of conduct to undertake routine management procedures.
“It’s is not open slather that Labor lies about.
“The distortion of facts by the two Ministers makes it very clear that they will always, always throw farmers under the bus to win an election and protect their own jobs.
“As true environmentalists and responsible custodians of the land it just makes economic sense for farmers to sustainably manage their land.”
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In May this year, Tim Seelig, from the Queensland Conservation Council, said one million hectares of native forests and woodlands in Queensland had been cleared since the new vegetation management laws were introduced by the LNP in 2013.
In June, a CSIRO paper described land-clearing in Queensland at “globally significant” levels.
And this week, Lyndon Schneiders, National Director of the Wilderness Society, said that every three minutes an area the size of the Gabba was being cleared somewhere Queensland.
