There’ll be disappointment on both sides of the native vegetation divide when the new codes and regulations are switched on Friday - but Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair says he is counting on it.
With the go-live countdown nearly at zero – and needle of public reaction lurching from ‘biodiversity apocalypse’ to ‘still not good enough’ – Mr Blair said he is confident government is not in limbo, but has instead struck a middle ground that serves the greater good: a package that improves biodiversity and empowers farmers as custodians of the land.
Related
He also said the final reforms were by no means locked in stone, with mechanisms available to both sides to argue for tweaks, should it not be working.
“I don’t want the rules to be written and sit on a shelf,” Mr Blair said. “And I do think there are people at both ends of the argument that won’t be happy. That’s the risk sometimes. You can play to the people who scream the loudest.
The Biodiversity reforms, and the process of crafting them, has proved deeply divisive among both producers and conservationists.
Farmers complain the laws remain a complex, onerous system that has been shackled through an internal arm wrestle between the Department of Primary Industries and the Office of Environment and Heritage. Green groups maintain the laws are tailored to suit big agribusiness, and care little for habitat destruction or species extinction.
The reforms – through a series of self-assessable clearing codes and offset mechanisms - are designed to operate without the regulatory vegetation mapping that is due to be released mid-2018.
Notice is required to be given to LLS for any clearing above the ‘allowable activities’ code.
NSW Farmers said, despite lingering “significant issues” with the reforms, including a skewed biodiversity offset balance, it would encourage landholders to talk to the LLS about what may be available to them.
“We are hopeful there are some opportunities within the codes for farmers,” said Native Vegetation Working Group chairman Mitchell Clapham.
“However as we’ve always maintained there are significant issues with some of the offset requirements in particular and the level of complexity.
“We were always of the view that inaccurate mapping will be detrimental and worthless and will have the effect of causing significant angst for farmers and interested community members alike.”
Other producers have been more blunt in their assessment.
Farmer Robert Anderson, Maneroo, disagreed with Mr Blair that the new system was workable.
“The proposed legislation is better in most instances, but coming from a very low base, that would not be hard,” he said.
“This is akin to saying that a person that is 100 per cent reliant on a car that has scored two punctures and puts the spare is now 50 per cent better off. True, but still in a 100 per cent unworkable situation.”
On the other side of the table are conservation groups, who, along with NSW Labor and the Greens, fear irreversible environmental damage.
“We have already had reports that some unscrupulous agribusinesses have already begun clearing illegally in anticipation of the new laws, and it is widely expected that landholders will rush to clear in the weeks and months after these laws take effect,” said Nature Conservation Council chief executive Kate Smolski.
Mr Blair said he was confident the reforms had struck a balance, and were also strong enough to withstand any future change of government.
He was also sure farmers would show their doubters that they could be trusted as custodians of the land.
“What we have now puts the farmer as part of the solution - not as part of the problem,” he said.
“People are very quick to say what may be cleared. But farmers may also choose to take stewardship payments to manage native vegetation.
“We’re providing them with an income stream instead of locking it up and demanding they look after it out of their own pocket, while paying compound interest in the form of pest animals.”
The new codes and regulations will be live on Friday.
Biodiversity Trust unveiled
As part of the reforms, the Biodiversity Conservation Trust will be established to manage the reform’s $240 million private land conservation program.
Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said the Biodiversity Conservation Trust Board would bring extensive experience in conservation of biodiversity, rural and regional land and resource management, financial management, and law and governance.
The Biodiversity Conservation Trust Board consists of:
- The Hon Robert Hill AC (Chairman) – Mr Hill is a former Commonwealth Government Environment Minister and a former Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Australia. He is a member of the Asia Pacific Board of The Nature Conservancy and a Governor of WWF Australia. He Chairs the Cooperative Research Centre on Low Carbon Living at UNSW.
- Virginia Malley (Deputy Chair) – Ms Malley is a non-executive director of Perpetual Superannuation Limited, a member of the Clean Energy Regulator and a former director of the Nature Conservation Trust. She has 30 years’ experience in the investment and banking sectors, as well as in conservation and environmental initiatives.
- The Hon Gary Nairn AO – Mr Nairn became the Chairman of the Mulloon Institute following a 12-year term as the Federal Member for Eden-Monaro. He has extensive experience as a surveyor and he was the inaugural Chairman of the Northern Territory Planning Commission and on the board of the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority.
- Renata Brooks – Ms Brooks is currently a Commissioner of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and was previously Deputy Director General, Land and Natural Resources, in the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
- Russell Taylor AM – Mr Taylor is on the Council of the University of Technology, he is a senior Indigenous leader on a number of boards including The Australian and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation, and he was a member of the Nature Conservation Trust.
- Duncan McGregor – Mr McGregor is an environment and planning law specialist. He is a former partner and remains a Legal Consultant at MinterEllison. He was the inaugural Chair of the Commonwealth Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee as part of the Carbon Farming Initiative.
Alex Druce
Politics and rural issues journo in Sydney. Give me a yell at adruce@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Politics and rural issues journo in Sydney. Give me a yell at adruce@fairfaxmedia.com.au
