Extract from The Guardian
Palaszczuk government’s plan to restore tree clearing controls
stymied by opposition and independents so will rely on upgraded
satellite surveillance
The Queensland government will rely on upgraded satellite
surveillance of native woodlands amid fears of imminent “panic clearing”
that could further erode national efforts to tackle carbon emissions.
On Thursday night the Palaszczuk government introduced a bill to restore tree clearing controls after a spike under its Liberal National predecessor was set to wipe out gains from more than $670m of commonwealth funding to stop tree felling.
But a push by the Liberal National party opposition, supported by the Katter party and the Labor defector Rob Pyne after a marathon five-hour debate in parliament, means the bill will be tied up in committee until 30 June.
This has opened a window of more than three months for rural landholders to rush to clear woodlands ahead of looming controls, as occurred with previous crackdowns.
On Monday the Palaszczuk cabinet had decided against pushing separately for a moratorium to head off panic clearing before key negotiations with the independent Speaker, Peter Wellington, on whose casting vote the bill’s fate is likely to rest.
But in an attempt to address the risk of clearing outbreaks, the government has given itself the option of forcing landholders to “restore” woodlands illegally stripped before the bill passes.
The natural resources department would meanwhile use a ramped-up monitoring program delivering fortnightly satellite images to “help identify unexplained changes”, with priority given to “high-value vegetation and larger areas”, a spokesman said.
Before that program, trialled since last October, “data was up to two years old and land had been cleared by the time [the department] became aware of it”, he said.
The deputy premier, Jackie Trad, said the LNP had “gutted” previous controls and she was “very concerned” the delay in voting on the bill would lead to panic clearing.
The environment minister, Steven Miles, said emissions from tree clearing in Queensland – Australia’s biggest carbon polluter with an estimated annual total of 190m tonnes – had climbed to 36m tonnes a year.
“That more than wipes out the federal government’s expensive, ineffective Direct Action fund and puts in doubt Australia’s ability to meet our international carbon pollution reduction targets,” he said.
Environmentalists welcomed the proposed laws but expressed surprise and disappointment at Pyne’s role in extending their period in limbo after he said he would support their passage.
A Wilderness Society campaigner, Tim Seelig, said: “I think we’re still going to see a lot of panic clearing and illegal clearing. That’s been the experience in the past and there’s not reason to think differently this time.
“But at least the retrospective provisions of the bill give the government more legal options to pursue people after the fact, and monitoring will be key to that.”
An Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner, Andrew Picone, said it was “far better to prevent the loss of habitat, but should it occur penalties need to be enough to act as a warning”.
“For example, if someone clears 10ha, 100ha on their property should be then protected for regrowth,” he said.
Seelig said the government had been “historically slow in monitoring and enforcing clearing laws. They should aim for as close to ‘real time’ monitoring as possible.”
Last year about 200 instances of unexplained clearing triggered almost 70 investigations but led to only one prosecution and a $15,000 fine.
The opposition spokesman on natural resources, Andrew Cripps, said the LNP had fought to secure more time to challenge the “draconian” laws, which were “obviously shaped by extreme green groups”.
Cripps said the bill went “much further” than overturning the Newman government amendments, with provisions that were “much more extensive and aggressive [and would cause] a new level of pain for the bush”.
The laws would not trigger panic clearing but would “immediately shut down farm management and development”, affecting thousands of landholders statewide for the first time.
“Freehold landholders will lose the ability to manage their regrowth vegetation, while severe breaches of civil liberties make an inglorious return, including the reinstatement of reversal of the onus of proof – meaning farmers will again be considered guilty until proven innocent.”
Chris Mountford, the state director of the Property Council of Australia, said the laws would also drive up the cost of housing in urban areas such as south-east Queensland.
A WWF scientist, Dr Martin Taylor, said more than 800,000ha of threatened species habitat, about half of that for koalas, had the green light for destruction under the current land clearing exemptions.
“Bulldozers can now destroy vast areas of high conservation value bushland at any time with no questions asked, no permit required,” Taylor said.
“It’s much worse than we anticipated and if this land is cleared it will condemn thousands of plants and animals to death and increase extinction risk for at least 323 species.”
Taylor previously revealed that more than 40,000ha of “high value koala habitat was bulldozed in just two years”.
The Wilderness Society disputed claims by the Indigenous leader Noel Pearson that development efforts by Cape York communities would be hampered by the laws.
The natural resources department had advised there were no pending applications for clearing for “high value agriculture” projects from north Queensland Indigenous communities, with no existing approvals affected by changes to tree clearing laws, Seelig said.
Indigenous communities in Cape York could continue to get clearing approvals others could not under the Cape York Peninsula Act 2007. But the department had “tentatively advised” that none had applied to do so despite the option being available for almost a decade.
“There is no evidence that the system – as it was, is, or will be – interferes with Indigenous development, nor any evidence that traditional owners have attempted to use current systems anyway,” Seelig said.
“Noel Pearson is trying to create a false perception on this.”
Wellington, who will probably have the casting on the bill given its expected backing by Pyne and fellow crossbencher Billy Gordon, has a mixed record of support for tree clearing controls and a sympathy for farmers’ concerns.
He voted for the original Beattie government restrictions before backing the Newman government’s relaxation of the laws in 2013 that led to a sixfold surge in clearing from a 2009 low of about 50,000ha.
Neither Wellington nor Pyne could be reached for comment.
On Thursday night the Palaszczuk government introduced a bill to restore tree clearing controls after a spike under its Liberal National predecessor was set to wipe out gains from more than $670m of commonwealth funding to stop tree felling.
But a push by the Liberal National party opposition, supported by the Katter party and the Labor defector Rob Pyne after a marathon five-hour debate in parliament, means the bill will be tied up in committee until 30 June.
This has opened a window of more than three months for rural landholders to rush to clear woodlands ahead of looming controls, as occurred with previous crackdowns.
On Monday the Palaszczuk cabinet had decided against pushing separately for a moratorium to head off panic clearing before key negotiations with the independent Speaker, Peter Wellington, on whose casting vote the bill’s fate is likely to rest.
But in an attempt to address the risk of clearing outbreaks, the government has given itself the option of forcing landholders to “restore” woodlands illegally stripped before the bill passes.
The natural resources department would meanwhile use a ramped-up monitoring program delivering fortnightly satellite images to “help identify unexplained changes”, with priority given to “high-value vegetation and larger areas”, a spokesman said.
Before that program, trialled since last October, “data was up to two years old and land had been cleared by the time [the department] became aware of it”, he said.
The deputy premier, Jackie Trad, said the LNP had “gutted” previous controls and she was “very concerned” the delay in voting on the bill would lead to panic clearing.
The environment minister, Steven Miles, said emissions from tree clearing in Queensland – Australia’s biggest carbon polluter with an estimated annual total of 190m tonnes – had climbed to 36m tonnes a year.
“That more than wipes out the federal government’s expensive, ineffective Direct Action fund and puts in doubt Australia’s ability to meet our international carbon pollution reduction targets,” he said.
Environmentalists welcomed the proposed laws but expressed surprise and disappointment at Pyne’s role in extending their period in limbo after he said he would support their passage.
A Wilderness Society campaigner, Tim Seelig, said: “I think we’re still going to see a lot of panic clearing and illegal clearing. That’s been the experience in the past and there’s not reason to think differently this time.
“But at least the retrospective provisions of the bill give the government more legal options to pursue people after the fact, and monitoring will be key to that.”
An Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner, Andrew Picone, said it was “far better to prevent the loss of habitat, but should it occur penalties need to be enough to act as a warning”.
“For example, if someone clears 10ha, 100ha on their property should be then protected for regrowth,” he said.
Seelig said the government had been “historically slow in monitoring and enforcing clearing laws. They should aim for as close to ‘real time’ monitoring as possible.”
Last year about 200 instances of unexplained clearing triggered almost 70 investigations but led to only one prosecution and a $15,000 fine.
The opposition spokesman on natural resources, Andrew Cripps, said the LNP had fought to secure more time to challenge the “draconian” laws, which were “obviously shaped by extreme green groups”.
Cripps said the bill went “much further” than overturning the Newman government amendments, with provisions that were “much more extensive and aggressive [and would cause] a new level of pain for the bush”.
The laws would not trigger panic clearing but would “immediately shut down farm management and development”, affecting thousands of landholders statewide for the first time.
“Freehold landholders will lose the ability to manage their regrowth vegetation, while severe breaches of civil liberties make an inglorious return, including the reinstatement of reversal of the onus of proof – meaning farmers will again be considered guilty until proven innocent.”
Chris Mountford, the state director of the Property Council of Australia, said the laws would also drive up the cost of housing in urban areas such as south-east Queensland.
A WWF scientist, Dr Martin Taylor, said more than 800,000ha of threatened species habitat, about half of that for koalas, had the green light for destruction under the current land clearing exemptions.
“Bulldozers can now destroy vast areas of high conservation value bushland at any time with no questions asked, no permit required,” Taylor said.
“It’s much worse than we anticipated and if this land is cleared it will condemn thousands of plants and animals to death and increase extinction risk for at least 323 species.”
Taylor previously revealed that more than 40,000ha of “high value koala habitat was bulldozed in just two years”.
The Wilderness Society disputed claims by the Indigenous leader Noel Pearson that development efforts by Cape York communities would be hampered by the laws.
The natural resources department had advised there were no pending applications for clearing for “high value agriculture” projects from north Queensland Indigenous communities, with no existing approvals affected by changes to tree clearing laws, Seelig said.
Indigenous communities in Cape York could continue to get clearing approvals others could not under the Cape York Peninsula Act 2007. But the department had “tentatively advised” that none had applied to do so despite the option being available for almost a decade.
“There is no evidence that the system – as it was, is, or will be – interferes with Indigenous development, nor any evidence that traditional owners have attempted to use current systems anyway,” Seelig said.
“Noel Pearson is trying to create a false perception on this.”
Wellington, who will probably have the casting on the bill given its expected backing by Pyne and fellow crossbencher Billy Gordon, has a mixed record of support for tree clearing controls and a sympathy for farmers’ concerns.
He voted for the original Beattie government restrictions before backing the Newman government’s relaxation of the laws in 2013 that led to a sixfold surge in clearing from a 2009 low of about 50,000ha.
Neither Wellington nor Pyne could be reached for comment.
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