- Related content: Clearing path blocked by new opponents
HAILING the government’s land clearing reforms as a once in a generation opportunity to enshrine landholders’ rights in legislation, Primary Industries, Lands and Water Minister Niall Blair is warning angry lobby groups “not to throw the baby out with the bath water”.
Criticism from farmers, and outright opposition from green groups, is proving frustrating for the Nationals’ Upper House MP as he prepares to lob the long-awaited land clearing reform legislation into parliament.
He sees “a fundamental shift in property rights” hovering on the horizon, but he’s concerned the “people crying out for change don’t understand the opportunity we have”.
Current laws class the biodiversity value of private land “as property of the state”; the reforms would shift that value into the hands of landholders “including stewardship payments for improved biodiversity outcomes”, Mr Blair said.
He has to wrangle two votes in the upper house to secure a majority – given Labor’s and the Greens’ rejection of the reforms – which means support from two of the four crossbenchers is divided equally between the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and Fred Nile’s Christian Democrats.
In late June, NSW Farmers said it “cannot back the state government’s draft biodiversity reforms unless drastic changes are made”. An urgent policy motion at last week’s conference pointed the finger at NSW Office of Environment, rather than Primary Industries for unpalatable elements.
The association is demanding release of the maps that regulate permitted areas for clearing, reduction to the proposed powers of entry for native veg inspectors and, perhaps most controversially, for government to scrap codes that limit rates of clearing on private land.
Meanwhile, NSW Farmers has spent $600,000 on a metropolitan-focused advertising campaign urging people to ‘Get the Whole Picture’ on land reform.
Conservation groups seized on NSW Farmers’ criticism, arguing the reforms be abandoned due to opposition from both sides of the fence. However, Mr Blair has maintained a push for ongoing consultation, saying “don’t miss your chance to fix a flawed system because of a few problems”.
“We need to make sure farmers are a united and credible voice. This is something we want to work together on. We don’t want to go through it again in five, 10 or 20 years time,” he said, pointing to federal Labor’s threat to repeal state laws.
NSW government formed a memorandum of understanding with NSW Farmers, committing to introduce land clearing reforms to parliament by the end of the year.
- with Alex Druce