Barwon MP Kevin Humphries yesterday issued a media release commending the decision to “suspend” compliance activities in Spring Plains, north-west of Wee Waa.

The former minister said he had raised concerns with the highest levels of government that farmers in his electorate were “about to be unfairly targeted by compliance officers”.

“I raised my concerns with the Minister for the Environment, Mark Speakman, as well as the Premier and Deputy Premier’s offices, and I’d like to thank Mr Speakman for his timely response on the issue,” Mr Humphries said in the statement.

“Landholders in the area were offended by the action and rightly so. Everyone knows the legislation is not workable and that revised legislation is needed to restore a balance in land management.”

Mr Humphries’ comments immediately caused outrage among local environment campaigners, who said politicians should not be interfering in the Office of Environment and Heritage’s work.

But within hours, a spokesperson for Mr Speakman told The Leader that the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) had chosen to cancel the checks, putting Mr Humphries at odds with his Coalition colleague.

“Native vegetation compliance visits by the OEH have not been suspended in the Spring Plains district,” a spokesman said. “A decision by the OEH not to visit certain farms next week was an operational decision taken independently by the OEH.”

The state’s native vegetation laws have been under attack since Croppa Creek farmer Ian Turnbull, who was under investigation for illegal land clearing, allegedly murdered Tamworth compliance officer Glen Turner in July last year.

The Coalition pledged before the March election to scrap the Native Vegetation Act and replace it with the Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Tamworth ecologist Phil Spark said it was the persistent “mixed messages” from the government to farmers over illegal land clearing “that leads to the events that we saw at Croppa Creek”.

“The law is the law,” he said. “They’ve got to take action wherever illegal clearing occurs. What other environmental laws are they going to sweep under the carpet?”