Scrap the anti-koala bill!
The Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 (often referred to as the ‘Koala Killing Bill’) was spectacularly defeated in the NSW Upper House late last year, when Catherine Cusack MP made a brave and principled decision to cross the floor to vote against her own party. The bill was sent to inquiry, with a parliamentary committee tasked with assessing the bill and identifying its many flaws.
This committee is now calling for submissions from the public. We now have a chance to stop this bill once and for all, and to spell out to the government why this is a terrible policy for koalas.
When answering the survey questions for the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020, use the following as direction to guide your responses to the questions. Please try to use your own words when completing the survey where possible, as unique submissions carry greater weight.
Make your submission here
Q2- Oppose
The LLS Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 proposed dramatic weakening of laws for how and when developers and landholders are able to destroy koala habitat.
Q3- This bill sought large expansions of exemptions for both developers and landholders from the Koala SEPP regulations. These exemptions would enable them to clear and destroy recognised koala habitat more easily. It also would stop councils being able to protect core koala habitat and from requiring consent for logging in environmental zones. If passed, the bill would have been disastrous for koalas.
Q4- Strongly disagree
The 1994 and 2019 Koala SEPPs have been incredibly ineffective at protecting koalas during their operation. Even before the Black Summer bushfires devastated NSW’s koalas, the previous 15-21 years saw the state's koala population decrease by 26%. These SEPPs were ineffective at ensuring development was regulated in a manner that would actually protect koalas.
Q5- Establishing a streamlined process that enables landholders to quickly and easily undertake conservation covenants for their land will remove a significant barrier currently stopping increased uptake of these agreements. Providing greater funding for these programs, and increasing the payments that landholders receive for protecting certain habitat, will be key to incentivising further conservation on private land.
More funding for surveying and assessing potential sites of important habitat on private land will support farmers and landholders in understanding the species that their land supports, and what they can do to protect them.
Reintroducing the 2020 Koala Habitat Protection SEPP with amendments further strengthening protections for koalas, would provide incentive to protect koala habitat.
Q6- Strongly disagree
Current mechanisms to assess biodiversity on private land following land use changes are inept and have contributed to a massive spike in NSW land clearing. Land clearing has developed into a free-for-all since the repealing of the Native Vegetation Act 2003 and transferring of decision making power regarding clearing of native vegetation to the Local Land Services Act 2013 and the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
Q7- Private land is clearly not undergoing rigorous or appropriate biodiversity assessments before land use changes are approved. In 2018, clearing of woody vegetation doubled to 60,800 ha and 72% of the 75,000 ha of Rural Regulated Land cleared was described as “unexplained”. The June 2019 Auditor General report ‘Managing Native Vegetation’ found that “the clearing of native vegetation on rural land is not effectively regulated and managed”, being fraught with problems of weak processes, poor assessments, inadequate protection, limited monitoring and poor enforcement.
Q8- Current regulatory demands on landholders are lacking and limited, leading to detrimental environmental outcomes. There are few restrictions placed on farmers or rural landholders regarding plans to develop or clear land on their property. This bill sought to loosen restrictions even further, which would have resulted in higher rates of land clearing and development and subsequently, habitat loss for koalas.
Q9- Local Government can play a critical role in ensuring the protection of koalas, given their part in approving various development applications. If local governments that have koala populations were provided adequate resources and incentive to undertake the development of a comprehensive koala plan of management for their LGA, koalas would receive greater protection.
Q10- Stronger protections are needed for koalas in NSW, not weaker ones. To stop koalas going extinct by 2050 the NSW Government must act fast to reign in the out-of-control deforestation rate and expand our national parks estate.
Tags
Forests and wildlife
Let others know about this issue