AS NYNGAN farmer Joe Holmes sent off his latest submission on native vegetation last week, he reflected on almost two decades of what has felt like a dead-end.
“We are 19 years into this and we put another round of submissions into this self-assessment code review the other day,” he said.
“You pull out the stuff and say the same thing we said 19 years ago, so why keep asking us if you are not going to take any notice?”
He said it was fair enough the submission set-up was to get feedback on the Native Vegetation Act, “but nobody takes any notice”.
“There are two or three people in the department I’ve got a lot of time for, and they could fix it in five minutes if you’d let them.”
He had no doubt that in 2012 when then environment minister Robyn Parker visited the region, she left with every intention of making changes.
“But there is something that stops them from getting it right,” he said.
Mr Holmes remembers more than 40 visits from politicians since the introduction of the original State Environment Planning Policy (SEPP) 46 in 1995 – and the problems were never fixed.
One visit from former premier Bob Carr was fixed in his mind.
“We were heading around the scrub and Bob Carr said ‘I’m really interested in seeing this woody weed problem, let me know when we get there’.
“I said, ‘jeez Mr Carr we have been driving through it for the past five minutes... this is the stuff that’s hitting our windscreen’.
“(It was) the regrowth that hadn’t been managed for decades before.”
Mr Carr seemed determined to fix the problems and Mr Holmes thought “now we’ve got it sorted and can get on with it”.
“That was a long time ago,” he said.
One problem was the way due process was reversed for farmers suspected of illegal land clearing.
“It’s so draconian,” he said.
“You are guilty without a trial... once they make an accusation, you’ll be guilty until you prove yourself innocent.”
Mr Holmes was also suspicious of the Biodiversity Legislation Review’s purpose of merging various pieces of environmental legislation.
This includes the Native Vegetation Act, the Threatened Species Conserv-ation Act, the Nature Conservation Trust Act, plus parts of the National Parks and Wildlife Act.
“Now they are talking about merging those four or five Acts into one... nobody ever mentioned that, it was supposed to just be a review of the Native Vegetation Act.”
Mr Holmes feared merging the Acts would “bury” the issue of land clearing for farming within a mass of unrelated environmental issues.
Another concern was the creation of a “monolith” environment office with broader powers.
“It’s bloody scary,” he said. “This is the end game of the whole design.
“The Native Veg Act... it’s not about saving the trees – it’s about putting in place that authority, and once they’ve got it they’ll keep it.”
Mr Holmes said farmers were frustrated people who never left the city thought they knew best about looking after the land.
“I understand this land and the way it needs managing,” he said.
“If they want people out of here, then buy our land and lock it up.”
Mr Holmes said the Nationals had to stand up for constituents.
“(Barwon MP) Kevin Humphries is all around this issue... he understands what needs to be done.”
Despite concerns, Mr Holmes still made his submission on the Biodiversity Legislation Review.
Written submissions close on Friday, September 5. Email biodiversity.legislationreview@environment.nsw.gov.au, or mail to Biodiversity Legislation Review, PO Box A290, Sydney South, NSW, 1232.
Mark Griggs
Journalist for The Land at Dubbo.
Journalist for The Land at Dubbo.
