THE NSW government says its long- awaited scrapping of the state’s native vegetation laws will cut red tape for farmers managing their land, but critics have called the plan a “blueprint for environmental destruction”.
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The newly proposed biodiversity laws ease the regulations for farmers maintaining their land, make routine farm work, such as clearing along fencelines, exempt from regulation and includes a colour-coded map which shows what land is classified as regulated or unregulated.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said since taking office, he had repeatedly heard from farmers and conservationists that the current system was unworkable.
“The existing act has not prevented declines in biodiversity, and it has interfered with farmers’ ability to improve their productivity,” Mr Marshall said.
The NSW Farmers’ Association said the current laws had hampered farmers for over two decades.
“The existing regulations are a nightmare for farmers,” NSW Farmers’ Association president Derek Schoen said.
“The current act over-regulates, micro-manages, and often prevents better environmental outcomes. Farmers find themselves caught up in layers of complexity and red tape, which prevents them from getting on with managing their land and business.”
Mr Schoen said the new laws should be based on a 2014 independent expert panel review, which reflected a more scientific and progressive approach to land management.
“Land reform is vital for our food security and the future of family farms in NSW – reforms that the government is putting at risk by failing to adopt all 43 of the recommendations in the expert panel report,” he said.
“We need legislation that considers the whole picture, not narrow-minded thinking far removed from modern farming and resource management.”
Greens NSW MP and environment spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi said the laws would lead to more land clearing and habitat loss, devastating the state’s biodiversity.
“The Baird government has today released their blueprint for environmental destruction [and] if this goes ahead, Environment Minister Mark Speakman should have his title changed to Minister Against the Environment,” Dr Faruqi said.
“Making clearing land easier will be an absolute disaster in a state where 61 per cent of the original native vegetation of NSW has already been cleared, thinned or significantly disturbed, most of it in the last 50 years.
“When the Queensland government made it easier to clear land, there was a doubling of land clearing and the removal of almost 300,000 hectares of bushland, 20 times the size of the Royal National Park in Sydney.”
The proposal is on public display until June 28. To have your say on the draft go to landmanagement.nsw. gov.au