NEW England independent Tony Windsor last night welcomed the move by NSW Farmers to dig in over preserving prime agricultural land from mining exploration – but called for caution on locking up the land.
He urged some caution around what is something of a minefield, particularly when it comes to the definition of “prime agricultural land”.
“We have got to be a bit careful about a complete ban. We have to develop processes first. The definition of what is prime agricultural land becomes very important. We have been wrestling with that definition at a federal level,” Mr Windsor said.
It was an important concept but it required caution and care, particularly “when you get down to putting a line around a map”.
“There are definitely some areas of land that, because of their fertility and fragile nature, should not be mined,” he said.
“In our area, I guess, that is the Liverpool Plains, but others might have a different view.
“Let’s find those areas and limit certain activities from them.”
Mr Windsor offered the analogy of what restrictions protected national parks.
He said mining and extractive industries activities weren’t allowed in those parks and perhaps government had to legislate along those lines for certain areas of land like the Liverpool Plains and Darling Downs.
He said the move by the NSW Farmers’ Association was a starting point.
The MP congratulated new association president Fiona Simson on her election and on moving “pretty fast” to address the dilemma.
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