Committee to visit five centres the week before Easter for public hearings

Chris Whiting, the chairman of the State Development, Natural Resources and Agricultural Industry Development committee, confirmed on Wednesday that hearings would take place in Charleville, Longreach, Cloncurry, Townsville, and Rockhampton that week.

A meeting will be scheduled for Cairns and possibly Weipa after Easter.

Dates that the committee will visit each centre won’t be finalised until after a committee briefing next Monday morning.

Already announced is a hearing in Brisbane on Friday, March 23, the day after written submissions close.

The short timeframe given to people to digest the proposed new laws and make written submissions – there is now only a week left in which to prepare a submission – is of concern to AgForce, which has called for an extension of time for submissions to the Parliamentary inquiry.

Mr Whiting said the request would have to be sent to the committee “to be dealt with” when it met next Monday.

“I would have to look at the reasons put forward for an extension before I could comment further on whether it would be granted,” he said.

According to AgForce general president, Grant Maudsley, many farmers were still trying to come to grips with what the changes would mean for them.

“And many parts of north Queensland have been cut off by heavy rain and floodwaters," he said.

Mr Maudsley queried the speed at which the process for public consultation was taking place, saying that landholders were given several months to have their say on similar vegetation management laws in 2016 that were ultimately rejected by Parliament.

“Now that Labor has a majority, the committee process has been cut short," he said.

Gregory MP, Lachlan Millar, questioned the government’s respect for the committee process this week, saying a tweet from Health Minister, Steven Miles, lauding the government’s majority as the main point in the debate, showed contempt for the committee process.

In February, Agriculture Minister, Mark Furner, told landholders in Tambo that “once the legislation comes about, it won’t be rushed the way previous governments have.”

Mr Whiting insisted the timing was in line with normal Parliamentary processes.

“There are four bills before the committee at the moment so we’ve got four reports to prepare,” he said. “The process is governed by standing orders and it’s quite consistent with Parliamentary processes.”

He said the Premier had promised the opportunity for every Queenslander to have their say, through submissions and at hearings.

“The Premier promised open debate and we’re going around the state to hear different perspectives.

“The hearing locations give the broadest amount of people a chance to have their say.”

Mr Maudsley has encouraged as many individuals as possible to explain how the laws affect them personally so the committee can better understand the impact on farm production.

Written submissions are due by 12pm on Thursday, March 22. More information about the committee's inquiry and how to make a submission is available here.

The committee consists of six MPs, three government members and three LNP representatives.

The chairman, Chris Whiting is the ALP Member for Bancroft, an outer Brisbane electorate, elected in 2015.

Also coming into Parliament in 2015 is deputy chairman, Pat Weir, the LNP Member for Condamine.

The rest of the committee consists of Jim Madden (ALP, Ipswich West, elected 2015), Jess Pugh (ALP, Mt Ommaney, 2017), David Batt (LNP, Bundaberg, 2017), and Brent Mickelberg (LNP, Buderim, 2017).