THE opportunity to knock out the Palaszczuk government’s punitive new vegetation management laws has been dealt a severe blow following federal Labor’s decision to launch its own farmer bashing campaign.
Up until Bill Shorten’s gut-wrenching announcement last week that he would use commonwealth powers to further restrict vegetation management on top of existing state laws, there was widespread hope that common sense would prevail and Palaszczuk’s proposed laws would never see the light of day.
What farmers are still desperately hoping is that the draconian Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill will be defeated on the floor of the Queensland Parliament with the support of independent Speaker Peter Wellington.
However, with the Shorten announcement and the unremarkable performance of the Turnbull government, time is now on the side of Annastacia Palaszczuk and the extreme green groups which are driving the agenda within Labor at both the state and federal level.
Now that Shorten has decided that bashing farmers over tree clearing is an easy way to garner votes in the run up to the expected July 2 election, Palaszczuk will wait until after that date and possibly into August and before making any move.
The reality is that if Shorten wins office, farmers will be hammered.
If Turnbull is able to hang onto power, all eyes will ultimately be back on Peter Wellington who will be very likely to be the make or break of farmers.
Labor understands only too well that no other issue has proven so effective as harnessing the urban, green vote than demonising farmers over vegetation management.
That’s why Shorten is now bashing farmers. It works.
- Mark Phelps is a journalist with Queensland Country Life.
