UPDATED 2pm: NSW Farmers says it will not support government’s land clearing reforms unless drastic changes are made to the draft legislation.
Association president Derek Schoen said the draft legislation was unworkable for farmers in its current form.
Mr Schoen demanded significant amendments “from start to finish”. It remains to be seen if NSW government can meet the demands, or if NSW Farmers’ bold move will throw the reform push off course.
Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said the group had a right to share its concerns.
“(NSW Farmers) are an important stakeholder but they are just one stakeholder. There are lots of views on the spectrum,” Mr Blair said.
“We know that there’s some concerns out there. The reason I know this is because I was at a lot of (the public consultation) meetings myself.
“This is not like Queensland where they snuck changes through in the dead of night. We’ve been very open during this entire consultation process, and we want to strike a balance with stakeholders.
“(The criticism from NSW Farmers) is something you open yourself up to if you take this road.”
The conservation movement seized NSW Farmers’ announcement as another opportunity to derail new laws.
The six-week public consultation on the reforms closes today.
NSW Farmers said its key concerns were missing property satellite mapping, ‘restrictive’ land management codes, measures that would increase farmers’ cost of productivity, and provisions that would allow compliance officers excessive powers of entry and investigation.
“While the draft laws go some way towards addressing the concerns of farmers, they are overly convoluted,” Mr Schoen said.
“For over 20 years, the current Native Vegetation Act has hampered efficient farming practices and without significant changes, the draft laws run the real risk of repeating the mistakes of the past.”
“Many recommendations of the 2014 independent panel review have not been adequately addressed, leaving farmers at potential risk and introducing further uncertainty over land use.”
Nature Conservation Council chief executive Kate Smolski said now “nobody” wanted the reforms.
“Premier (Mike) Baird’s draft biodiversity laws in tatters now NSW Farmers has withdrawn its support,” Ms Smolksi said.
“Now nobody supports this deeply flawed package – not the scientists, not the conservationists, and not even the NSW Farmers, the very lobby group these laws were designed to appease. This has been an utter failure.
“Mr Baird should either give the Local Land Services the resources it needs to work with farmers to ensure the existing Native Vegetation Act works as it was intended, or go back to the drawing board and develop new proposals that provide workable, effective protections for nature in NSW.”
NSW Farmers’ call for changes followed an intensive campaign by the Association to consult with members and raise awareness of the urgent need for biodiversity reforms.
The campaign, which called on people living in NSW to “get the whole picture” on land reform, included public forums across the State.
“We welcome the commitment to increased investment in private land conservation and reiterate the need to repeal the Native Vegetation Act,” Mr Schoen said in a statement.
“We urge the government to listen to farmers who’ve been looking after the natural environment for generations.”
