Environment movement’s election challenge released

14 August, 2014

Environment movement’s election challenge released

Nine of the state’s leading conversation groups today released their top policy asks for the 2015 NSW election, and challenged political parties to reconnect with the community and block excessive influence of developers and miners. [1]

Top-line issues in the movement’s policy platform, Our Environment, Our Future: Policies for the 2015 NSW Election and Beyond, [2] include strengthening land-clearing and wildlife protection laws, banning CSG and coal mining in sensitive areas, removing fishing from protected marine sanctuaries, creating new reserves for the North Coast’s endangered koalas, and a container deposit scheme.

Our Environment, Our Future is a 24-page road map for all parties contesting the next state election that outlines a broad vision for nature conservation, planning, and pollution reduction in NSW.

It includes many detailed policy prescriptions that would move the state’s economy to a more sustainable footing.

“The environment movement is keen to work with all parties and candidates who are prepared to help us achieve our vision of a clean, sustainable NSW,” Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said.

“We have a long way to go, but there is plenty of low-hanging fruit available for parties and candidates willing to engage with us.”

Total Environment Centre Executive Director Jeff Angel said: “We want all parties to pledge that legal protections for wildlife are defended and strengthened.

"Since the Native Vegetation Act came into effect in 2003, about 63,000 paddock trees have been chain-sawed or bulldozed.

"It would be environmental and economic madness to weaken these laws. All political parties serious about protecting the state’s wildlife must commit to defending and extending these safeguards.”

NSW National Parks Association CEO Kevin Evans said: “Koalas in NSW are currently on the road to extinction unless something is done to protect their habitat and help them adapt to a warming climate.

"That’s why one of our priorities is to establish a reserve system on the state’s north coast. This reserve must include thousands of hectares of forest connecting the Coffs Harbour-Guy Fawkes and the Bellinger-Nambucca-Macleay koala meta-populations.

“More broadly, we want all parties to commit to having at least 17% of the state’s ecosystems conserved and managed through interconnected protected areas and effective nature conservation measures on private land by 2020. Currently only 9% of the state’s ecosystems are protected.”

Ms Smolski said all parties needed to do more to protect communities, wildlife and water resources from the unrestrained expansion of the coal and gas industries.

“While some concessions have been made in response to legitimate concerns about these industries, the main political parties have not done nearly enough,” she said.

“All parties must pledge to scrap the hated Mining SEPP, which puts economic interests ahead of communities, restore third-party merit appeal rights, and rule out coal and gas development in drinking water catchments, agricultural land, and sensitive environmental areas.”

Other key asks in Our Environment, Our Future

Marine

Create a Sydney Harbour marine park.
End the amnesty on illegal fishing in sanctuary zones.
End trawling in marine parks.

Forests

Commit to transitioning to plantation forestry, phasing out logging in native forests.
Retain the ban on commercial logging in conservation areas.
Reject the Natural Resources Commission recommendation to allow loggers into State Conservation Areas.
Reserve the Gardens of Stone region in a state conservation area.

Planning

Implement ICAC’s recommendations to corruption-proof the planning system.
Scrap Chris Hartcher's hated Mining SEPP, which puts economic interests ahead of social and environmental ones when considering mining and gas development applications.
Restore third-party appeal rights.

Rivers and wetlands

Ban coal seam gas exploration and extraction that threatens groundwater systems.
Dump plans to build the Needles Gap dam on the Belubula River.

REFERENCES

[1] Prepared by the Environmental Liaison Office, which consists of: Nature Conservation Council of NSW, National Parks Association of NSW, Total Environment Centre, The Wilderness Society, Colong Foundation for Wilderness, Blue Mountains Conservation Society, North Coast Environment Centre, Central West Environment Council, South East Region Environment Council. Read more: http://www.nature.org.au/campaigns/parliamentary-liaison/

[2] Find the full document here: http://bit.ly/1l1LENw AVAILABLE FOR

INTERVIEWS

Kate Smolski, CEO, NSW Nature Conservation Council
Jeff Angel, Executive Director, Total Environment Centre
Kevin Evans, CEO, NSW National Parks Association