THE reforms heralded as a new era in land management and conservation across the state are already on shaky ground, after farmers and conservationists called for the government to “go back to the drawing board” on the proposed new laws.
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The long-awaited draft Biodiversity Conservation Act was announced in May, the replacement for the much-maligned Native Vegetation Act, with public submissions on the reforms closing yesterday.
The new laws were hailed as providing greater flexibility for farmers when it came to managing their land, but were slammed by green groups who said they went too far the other way, and would lead to widespread land clearing across the state.
Now, the new act has lost the support of the agricultural sector, with NSW Farmers yesterday calling for sweeping changes to the draft laws.
Association president Derek Schoen said the legislation in its current form was unworkable for farmers and “significant amendments were needed from start to finish”.
“While the draft laws go some way towards addressing the concerns of farmers, they are overly convoluted,” he said.
“For over 20 years, the current Native Vegetation Act has hampered efficient farming practices, and without significant changes, the draft laws run the real risk of repeating the mistakes of the past.”
Nature Conservation Council chief executive officer Kate Smolski said the proposed laws were now “in tatters” following the withdrawal of farmer support.
“Now nobody supports this deeply flawed package – not the scientists, not the conservationists, and not even the NSW Farmers, the very lobby group these laws were designed to appease. This has been an utter failure,” she said.
Ms Smolski said the government should either give Local Land Services the resources it needed to work with farmers to ensure the existing Native Vegetation Act worked as it was intended, or “go back to the drawing board” and develop new proposals that “provide workable, effective protections for nature in NSW”.
“The laws the government has proposed will further the short-term interests of big agribusiness and property developers, not the communities and wildlife that depend on healthy soils, waterways and bushland for their long-term survival.”