6 december, 2012
NSW environment faces clear and present danger if federal powers are transferred to the states
New South Wales’ threatened wildlife and iconic landscapes will be at serious risk if the Federal Government transfers environmental approval powers to the states at tomorrow’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting, according to the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
The Business Advisory Forum is meeting in private with the Prime Minister today to urge the government to push ahead with the transfer despite opposition from a coalition of environmental groups, prominent scientists, lawyers and environmentally concerned business people.
“The states simply cannot be trusted to safeguard the interests of the environment and the community in the face of unrelenting pressure from industry lobbyists,” said Pepe Clarke, NCC Chief Executive Officer.
“The proceedings at the Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW recently have highlighted the risks of concentrating decision-making at the state level in this way.
“Transferring approval powers to the states could not come at a worse time for NSW. The O’Farrell Government has been winding back environmental protections ever since it came to power and is now overhauling state planning laws to help fast-track development.
“Giving these powers to the O’Farrell Government presents a clear and present danger to the environment. The government is in the process of reducing environmental protections in the state’s planning system, and is under pressure to weaken protections for threatened species and native vegetation.
“The Federal Government has an essential role in protecting our natural environment in the national interest, a role that it must not abdicate to the states.”
Mr Clarke said there were several major developments in NSW currently being assessed by the Commonwealth under the existing arrangements, including:
- An 85,000ha gas field in the Pilliga Forest, the largest remaining temperate woodland in eastern Australia and the largest forest remnant left in the heavily cleared wheat-sheep belt west of Narrabri. Santos proposes to drill 1,100 gas wells and clear 1,000km of pipeline, turning it into an industrial coal seam gas field.
- Open cut mines in the heart of Leard State Forest, the most extensive and intact stand of nationally listed and critically endangered box-gum woodlands in Australia. There are two applications being considered. Tarrawonga Coal Project would expand the open-cut Tarrawonga Coal Mine and extend the life of operations by 13 years. The extension of the Boggabri Coal Mine will require the clearing of 1,900ha and gouge a hole out of the forest measuring 5km square.
- An open cut mine in the Gardens of Stone on the western edge of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Gardens of Stone is a network of escarpments and canyons, upland swamps and pagoda complexes. The open-cut mine, called the Coalpac Consolidation Project, would require the clear-felling of 1088ha of forest that includes threatened species and endangered ecological communities.
“In cases such as these, the State Government would clearly have a conflict of interest if it were to be the sole assessment authority because it would stand to benefit substantially from royalties if the projects were to proceed,’’ Mr Clarke said.
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Federal environmental laws
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