17 August, 2017
Conservation groups welcome the Senate’s call to delay NSW Government’s tree-clearing laws
The Australian Senate has called on the Berejiklian Government to delay introducing new tree-clearing laws in NSW until regulatory maps are made public showing areas that will and will not require approval before clearing can occur. [1]
The NSW Government has committed to “switching on” its new tree-clearing laws on Friday next week (August 25) when codes and regulations supporting the new Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 are due to come into force.
The Coalition last year abolished the Native Vegetation Act and Threatened Species Conservation Act, replacing them with the Biodiversity Conservation Act, which had weaker tree-clearing controls and diluted protection for native wildlife and threatened ecosystems.
Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said: “Conservation groups been warning thousands of hectares of wildlife habitat could be lost under the new laws, as happened in Queensland when the Campbell Newman LNP government gutted that state’s land clearing laws.
“It is clear the Australian Senate shares our concerns, which is why it has called on Premier Berejiklian to delay implementing these weaker laws until their effect is better understood and the regulatory framework is fully in place.
“We have already had reports that some unscrupulous agribusinesses have already begun clearing illegally in anticipation of the new laws, and it is widely expected that landholders will rush to clear in the weeks and months after these laws take effect.
“These laws are already going to do a lot of harm, but implementing them before all the regulatory protections are in place will simply multiply the damage they can do.”
Total Environment Centre Director Jeff Angel said: “Despite the fact the previous land-clearing laws were working well – a new weaker act has been passed. It is a very complex system and we have been advised that key regulatory instruments will not be completed by the turn-on date of 25 August.
“This was noted by the Senate and importantly that the NSW offset scheme does not accord with the Commonwealth offset scheme which has stronger rules.
“Further, government officers who are supposed to administer the new system have not been fully trained on the new codes and regulations, because they are still being finalised. It is also clear there won’t be enough staff to administer the new system. All up NSW will see a massive expansion in land clearing.”
REFERENCES
[1] See page 9 of the Senate Notice Paper, Wednesday, 16 August 2017.
The Senate—
(a) notes that:
(i) earlier this year the NSW Government released a range of draft regulations and instruments to support two laws that cover how biodiversity, ‘offsetting’ and land-clearing are assessed in rural and urban areas,
(ii) the NSW Government plans for these biodiversity and land-clearing changes to commence on 25 August 2017, and
(iii) the NSW Environment Defenders Office in its submission to the NSW Government on this issue pointed out that:
(A) the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme will not meet federal standards in the Commonwealth Offsets Policy under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and
(B) where Local Land Services (LLS) consider that proposed clearing may require Commonwealth approval, LLS will only certify the clearing after being reasonably satisfied by the landowner that Commonwealth approval is unnecessary or approval has been granted; and
(b) calls on the NSW Government to delay setting a commencement date until all the mapping required to be able to make decisions about land-clearing and offsets is accurately and comprehensively completed, and NSW offsets under the Commonwealth policy meet Commonwealth standards.
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/notices/d807142c-23ec-4694-a83f-f95f62e9a5d2/toc_pdf/sen-np.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf
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