QUEENSLAND landholders are set to potentially lose a staggering 1.59 million hectares of productive agricultural land if the Palaszczuk Government’s punitive new vegetation management bill is passed into law.
Research by farm group AgForce shows that under the Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) Bill which was introduced to parliament on March 17 areas of so-called ‘high value’ regrowth and vegetation set aside to protect the Great Barrier Reef will massively increase.
The area which will come under new Category C and Category R protections is equal to 0.92 per cent of mainland Queensland.
The figures follow earlier research by AgForce showing the level of regrowth in Queensland significantly exceeds the level of clearing in recent years.
The controversial bill which is strongly supported by extreme green groups including the WWF and the Wilderness Society has generated widespread anger, particularly in North Queensland where the development of all-important high value agriculture will be banned.
While registered PMAVs (property map of assessable vegetation) will continue to operate, the new laws are designed to be retrospective to March 17 meaning landholders could face legal action if they breach the proposed laws.
AgForce president Grant Maudsley said landholders needed to actively oppose the proposed laws.
“AgForce is fighting the injustices that this 2016 Bill seeks to perpetrate on the hard working men and women in regional Queensland who are looking to rebuild after this disastrous drought,” Mr Maudsley said.
The bill is currently with parliament’s Agriculture, Resources and Environment Committee which is scheduled to report on June 30.
However, it is understood that committee will conduct just two four-day tours to meet with affected landholders and other parties across all of Queensland’s 13 bio-regions.
The May 3-6 tour will take in north and central Queensland while the May 31-June 3 tour will take in south and west Queensland.
Public submissions close on April 25. The Department of Natural Resources has compiled maps showing the proposed new restrictions. The maps are available on a lot-and-plan basis through the DNRM website: www.dnrm.qld.gov.au
Opposition natural resources spokesman Andrew Cripps said an updated analysis by the Australian Institute of Marine Science had shown that coral cover in the reef’s central and southern sections had increased between 2012 and 2015.
“This report should be a reality check for the Palaszczuk Government on imposing punitive, heavy-handed regulations on North Queensland landholders,” Mr Cripps said.
Mr Cripps said coral cover between Gladstone and Bowen nearly doubled between 2012 and 2015, while cover from Bowen to Cooktown had increased by more than 20per cent over the same period.
“The report itself attributed the decline in coral cover in areas north of Cooktown to cyclone activity and the crown-of-thorns starfish,” he said.
