NSW farmers will be able to review land-clearing legislation affecting their properties once detailed maps are released next year, Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair has confirmed.
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It was among a range of issues discussed at last week's NSW Farmers conference in Sydney, and among the most contentious among delegates. Mr Blair told the conference last Wednesday land maps dictating how farmers can clear their property will be released early in 2017 as part of proposed biodiversity laws.
This will then be followed by a half-year consultation period.
"You can have the map re-looked at if need be ... and re-drafted within that six-month period before that part of the legislation gets switched on," he said.
The NSW government says the laws, which replace the Native Vegetation Act, will give farmers more freedom to clear land. Environmental groups however have slammed the bills, arguing it could open the flood gates to wide-scale land clearing. NSW Farmers withdrew its support for the draft Biodiversity Conservation Act last month just prior to the closure of the public consultation period.
Association president Derek Schoen said the legislation in its current form was unworkable for farmers and "significant amendments were needed from start to finish".
And the issue of the delay in the release of the maps was high on their list of concerns. Members also unanimously supported the abolition of the proposed backpacker tax as concern grows about labour resources for the upcoming harvest season, and called on the NSW government to provide additional resources for the NSW Police to help combat alarming levels of rural crime.
Members of the NSW Farmers Association passed motions calling on the NSW Government to provide additional funding and staffing for rural police stations, and particularly for the smallest rural police stations. This is particularly so that they can attend the out-of-hours calls that are inevitably associated with crime on farms.
Rural crime has reached acute levels across the state, with stock theft at its highest levels since 2013. Illegal hunting activity has also increased sharply, and is associated with incidents of fuel and equipment theft, livestock injury and death, and damage to farm infrastructure.
The much-hyped Inland Rail also had a derailment of sorts at the conference, with a motion that the association "demand a construction start date" for the $10 billion freight project failing to find the necessary support.
NSW Farmers executive council nominated the inland rail as its top federal election issue in the lead up to the July 2 poll, but while the motion received broad support, a range of specific criticisms ultimately saw the motion voted down.
