After months of silence on whether there will be alterations in favour of primary producers to the new koala protection policy, it has taken the stand by local Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis to get communication flowing again.
Yesterday Mr Gulaptis, a member of the Nationals Party who represents farm and timber workers in a 13,500 square kilometre electorate, from the Eastern Fall to the coast, threatened to go independent unless a compromise could be found.
The new koala habitat protection policy was adopted by the NSW Government just ahead of Christmas and came into force March 1 - before going on a 30 day public exhibition.
"It is untenable to have this legislation in my electorate," he said. "This will affect rural businesses and regional economies unless changes happen.
"We need a compromise that will protect koalas, not just trees."
At the core of the new policy are affected tree species, up from 10 in the previous SEPP 44 to 123, covering most eucalypts. Spatial mapping has defined core habitat. The government says the new SEPP provides a more streamlined approach for land holders but critics say the plan will crucify producers who rely on private native timber to earn a living.
Planning minister Rob Stokes has said that in his interpretation of the SEPP, its impact is intended to protect koals in peri-rban areas, particularly from new development, not genuine farming enterprise.
The National Farmers Federation disagrees, with president James Jackson saying the while new SEPP was designed to protect koalas from urban expansion, many farmers were finding they were bound by new laws based on inaccurate mapping.
NFF has lobbied government to exclude all RU1 and RU2 zoned land from the new planning policy.
"Minister Stokes is incorrect," he said. "The SEPP will impose major restrictions on farming in NSW and will impede growth in local food and fibre production through turning farms into environment zones that are overseen by local councils.
"It should have been obvious that they would be unnecessary, completely unworkable and immensely costly on farms."
Member for Clarence Mr Gulaptis said with the number of farm and timber workers in his electorate it was vital that he 'draw a line in the sand' and make a stand in support of primary production while at the same time working to save koalas.
"Considering there is 7.2 million hectares in national parks and that we lost billions of animals in the bush fires we've got to do something different," he said. "It comes down to management of the national estate and we don't have the resources to look after that amount of country.
Shooters, fishers and farmers party Senator Mark Banasiak has already tried to introduce an amendment to protect primary producers from city-centric regulation but because a SEPP is an environmental planning Instrument authorised by the Governor and it falls outside of parliamentary scrutiny.
"Therefore," he said. "It cannot simply be amended in the house, like any other form of legislation.
"This being so, the advice I am seeking will be how best to bring EPI's, Koala SEPP and all other EPI's, under parliamentary scrutiny. This will require some serious reworking of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act, the end result will be that we will be able scrutinise all those incredibly sneaky environmental policies government tries to sneak through."
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