FARMERS have strongly endorsed Queensland’s current vegetation management framework.
The support comes as speculation grows that Queensland may soon be heading to the polls. The Palaszczuk government has already indicated it would abandon the reforms if re-elected in a bid to secure the urban green vote.
Opposition natural resources spokesman Andrew Cripps said farm group AgForce had delivered a clear statement of support by for the LNP’s 2013 vegetation management reforms, ahead of the next state election.
Mr Cripps said he had worked closely with AgForce during the 2016 campaign to defend the LNP’s vegetation management reforms from being overturned by Labor and the Greens.
“The LNP believes AgForce’s proposals for more area management plans based on different bioregions and clearer assessment processes for high value agriculture projects have merit, and we stand ready to discuss further details with them,” Mr Cripps said.
“We are also prepared to discuss a staged approach for large greenfield projects with a high value agriculture approval, without compromising the security of that project approval.
“These are sensible proposals which seek to use existing vegetation management laws to deliver opportunities for farmers and landholders to grow Queensland’s agriculture sector.
“In addition, AgForce has proposed an ongoing partnership to provide knowledge and information to farmers and landholders about their rights and responsibilities, which makes sense to me.”
Enough is enough, let's get this issue sorted out once and for all.
- Grant Maudsley
AgForce president Grant Maudsley said farmers needed balanced and sensible vegetation management laws to continue to produce food.
"Since 1999, there have been 38 amendments to vegetation management laws, which has confused and frustrated farmers, stifled regional development and eroded trust in government,” Mr Maudsley said.
"Farmers care about their land and know how to manage it responsibly, so why make a hard job even more difficult? Enough is enough, let's get this issue sorted out once and for all."
AgForce’s 'Healthy Environment, Healthy Agriculture' policy aims to deliver:
* A simpler, landscape scale approach to how vegetation is managed with plans negotiated between the landholder and the State Government to achieve sustainable, defined environmental and primary production outcomes;
* Clear and concise processes for high value agriculture and irrigated high value agriculture applicants and an appropriate right of appeal if permits are not granted.
* A staged approach to high value agriculture permits with applicants to successfully 'prove up' each stage of large scale developments before proceeding further.
* Extension workshops for landholders to refresh their knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the vegetation management framework.
Mr Maudsley said the focus of the vegetation management framework should be on achieving the best environmental and primary production outcomes, rather than prescriptive and complicated regulations.
"The central plank would be a 'Baseline Area Management Plan', which would include property maps based on historical data and contemporary satellite imagery, and an agreement between the State Government and landholder about how vegetation management would occur," he said.
"This approach would provide greater certainty to primary producers who would be able to manage their land to achieve an acceptable environmental outcome while still maintaining their property's productivity and profitability.
"For Government, it means vegetation management activities are known, better defined and documented, and easily monitored."
Mr Maudsley said high value agriculture developments could provide much needed social and economic opportunities, particularly in north Queensland, but only four of 21 applications had been approved in the last two years.
"AgForce believes the Palaszczuk Government's proposal to ban high value agriculture permits is short-sighted and unnecessary," he said.
Mr Cripps said he was pleased to see AgForce support all of the key aspects of the LNP’s 2013 vegetation management reforms, which established a sensible and balanced policy framework.
“It’s clear AgForce endorses our expanded use of self-assessable codes, agrees with our approach to managing regrowth and supports the issuing of high value agriculture permits,” he said.
“It’s also clear that AgForce doesn’t want to go back to the bad old days under Labor and the Greens, when farmers and landholders were treated worse than criminals under the law.
“Regional and rural Queenslanders need to understand that the Palaszczuk Government has made it clear that they will take all of these rights away if Labor wins the next state election.
“The only way to protect these hard won, practical and common sense changes to the vegetation management framework, is to ensure that a majority LNP Government is elected.”