THE Katter Party says it will be having a final discussion today with Labor turned independent member for Cook, Billy Gordon, in a bid to prevent controversial new vegetation management laws from being brought into force.
It follows a fortnight of sustained farmers bashing by the seemingly increasingly desperate minority Palaszczuk government, which is attempting to gain support for its Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016.
Cabinet will today consider the new laws and is expected to discuss how the laws could be amended to gain the support of Mr Gordon and independent speaker Peter Wellington.
The bill is expected to be debated in parliament later this week, foreshadowed by a protest by the Labor-aligned Wilderness Society outside parliament house on Wednesday morning.
Given the LNP’s and Katter’s long standing opposition to the new laws, Labor will need the support of both Mr Gordon and Mr Wellington to have the numbers to pass the bill into law.
The Katter’s member for Dalrymple Shane Knuth said of the thousands of pieces of legislation that were put before Parliament, this was the number one priority.
“These laws will completely shackle development, kill jobs, and make criminals out of our primary producers," Mr Knuth said.
“I have been fighting tree clearing crackdowns since 1999, when graziers rallied in Winton, and I was present at a rally in Townsville in 2011 when frustrated landowners stormed the premier’s office.”
The KAP aim to secure the critical numbers to prevent the passage of these laws in the house this week.