NSW Farmers is in the middle of two key opportunities on native vegetation reform.
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The first is the review of biodiversity laws, including the Native Vegetation Act 2003.
We have canvassed our issues with the independent panel who are to undertake the review, and will form our comprehensive submission over the coming weeks.
We encourage members to send us feedback and encourage landholders to make their own submissions via www.environment.nsw.gov.au.
The review has a relatively short time frame of six months and the panel will report to the minister by the end of the year.
NSW Farmers sees this review as the first chance in a very long time to gain some meaningful change in this policy area.
Our members have battled with a broken and ineffectual Act for a long time now, which has cost them dearly, as well as the environment.
Previous reviews have not provided the scope to touch the Act or the obvious problems that arise.
To be clear, we’re not asking for the facilitation of inappropriate broadscale clearing or environmental destruction.
We’re asking for changes to allow farmers to manage their land in a sustainable way.
We’re moving forward into a time where we can approach natural resource management in innovative and adaptive ways.
Taking care of the land requires
proactive management and it is essential that government allow farmers to do this.
The other key component to our advocacy on native vegetation at the moment is our support of a native vegetation amendment bill – a private members’ Bill introduced to the NSW Upper House.
We are expecting this Bill to be debated in the coming months.
It makes simple and sensible changes to the Act, it does not make all the changes we need to see on native veg but we see it as a fix until the broader reforms can happen.
For example, the Bill would allow thinning for drought preparation.
The Bill, if passed, would also make possible certain types of weed management under the Act as a “routine agricultural management activity”.
We encourage landholders to make it known to their local member of Parliament that this Bill is supported.
We will continue to lobby on native vegetation until we see some sensible changes that farmers, the people who are directly affected by these laws, can actually work with.