LABOR has delivered a 'kick in the guts' to rural Queensland with a pledge to submit landholders to its disastrous vegetation management laws if elected on January 31.
Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk made the commitment at her party's campaign launch in Ipswich on Tuesday, vowing to reintroduce the legislation that was a key instrument of her predecessors Peter Beattie and Anna Bligh to prosecute Queensland farmers as environmental vandals.
AgForce Queensland, which was central to fighting the former Labor administrations over their environmental policy, has condemned Ms Palaszczuk's decision, calling the reviled Vegetation Management Act under Beattie and Bligh "cumbersome, costly and unnecessary".
AgForce president Grant Maudsley said landholders were in agreement the Newman government's reforms to the VMA, introduced in 2013, had achieved the right balance for producers to conduct low-risk essential farm activities without sacrificing environmental health. He said repeal of the 2013 amendments would force unnecessary and burdensome administrative and regulatory requirements on landholders in the day-to-day management of their properties for no environmental gain.
"The changes to the act sought to address issues including lengthy waiting periods of up to nine years for simple approvals allowing activities such as fence clearing and weed control, both normal, day-to-day components of responsible farm management," Mr Maudsley said.
"It should also be clearly noted these changes were made only after Queensland's independent Competition Authority undertook a comprehensive assessment which recommended the old legislation be scrapped as it was so cumbersome.
"The ensuing report from the QCA was followed by a parliamentary inquiry in which the majority of submitters also agreed the old laws needed to be changed.
"The announcement from the ALP shows just how out of touch the party is both in terms of promoting a prosperous agriculture industry and what is required to protect the health of our environment."
Mr Maudsley said the current framework had operated for more than a year with no evidence to suggest environmental health was at risk.
"As primary producers who rely on the health of our land for our livelihoods we would be the first to express concern should we think environmental standards were being compromised," he said.
"From our perspective, Ms Palaszczuk's announcement is an attempt to create hype and hysteria around non-issues.
"This is particularly disappointing given the agricultural sector is yet to hear any policy in this campaign which addresses concerns surrounding the future profitability of the industry and what role government will play in assisting primary producers through the current drought."
LNP sources who contacted QCL on Wednesday after the Labor launch said the reintroduction of the land clearing laws would be delivered by a Palaszczuk-led Labor government in return for Green preferences.
They said the plan aimed to help Labor candidate Gail Hislop get over the line in the Gold Coast seat of Burleigh on January 31.
QCL had been unable to confirm this at the time of going to press.
- Labor candidate for Warrego Mark O'Brien said he and his Labor colleagues were well aware of the fractious history the old VMA had caused.
"The Howard government leaned on the Beattie government to bring these laws in to satisfy Kyoto protocols," he said.
"Both governments were culpable.
"I'm sure some well-meaning person in Brisbane wants to save the planet and has advised the Labor Party to go down this path.
"But Annastacia Palaszczuk asked me to be her eyes and ears for the bush, and I will represent the bush very strongly on this.
"The ALP needs to understand the best environmental managers of the land are graziers. Ninety-nine per cent do everything and more to care for the land.
"I don't see a need to overlay them with the burden of tree-clearing laws of the past.
"I don't want to encourage laws that reduce profitability.
"The positive for the electors of Warrego is that if and when there's a Labor government it's in the interests of people to have a member that represents their interests."
- Signals that Labor-Greens environmental policy was about to be resurrected surfaced last week when Ms Palaszczuk announced her party's plan for Great Barrier Reef protection.
Natural Resources Minister Andrew Cripps was quick to seize on the Labor leader's comments for their pro-Greens flavour and anti-farmer sentiment.
"Huge reductions in nutrient and sediment run-off were proposed in the policy within short timeframes, which can only mean one thing - Labor will be reinforcing their restrictive and onerous regulations on north Queensland farmers," Mr Cripps said.
"It is well established that the biggest threats to the Great Barrier Reef are cyclones, crown of thorns star fish and coral bleaching - not north Queensland farmers - who are an important part of our local economy and community.
"Labor's policy is not about the future of the Great Barrier Reef at all.
"This announcement is all about a back-room preference deal with the Greens ahead of the election, with agriculture and jobs in north Queensland paying the bill."
Vegetation management laws timeline
- 1994 – First significant controls of vegetation clearing on leasehold land imposed under the Land Act 1994.
- September 2000 – Vegetation Management Act 1999 takes effect. First ever controls imposed on vegetation clearing on freehold land. All broadscale clearing on both leasehold and freehold now requires a permit.
- May 2003 – Halt on new broadscale clearing applications. Halt on new applications for broadscale clearing on both freehold and leasehold land.
- May 2004 – Vegetation Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 includes the phasing out of broadscale clearing. Landholders invited to participate in ballot process to end broadscale clearing.
- December 2006 – Ballot clearing finalised. No more broadscale clearing allowed beyond this date.
- April 2009 – A six-month moratorium is imposed on the clearing of all native vegetation within 50 metres of a watercourse in priority reef catchments and endangered regrowth vegetation in rural areas across the state.
- October 2009 – Regulations take effect for the clearing of regrowth. The moratorium on clearing high-value regrowth ends and new arrangements protecting regrowth take effect.
- March 2013 – Vegetation Management Framework Amendment Bill 2013.
- December 2013 – Vegetation Management Framework commences.
About the terms: Broadscale land clearing refers to the clearing of remnant vegetation for agricultural and grazing purposes.
Regrowth refers to previously cleared vegetation that has regrown since December 1989.
Without proper management, uncontrolled regrowth reduces productivity, particularly on grazing land, as vegetation thickening impeded pasture growth and feed for livestock.
