1 June 2016
Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) will present this week to the Agriculture and Environment Committee on the proposed Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 currently before the Queensland Parliament. QFF will recommend that the Bill be rejected outright in its current form and that the committee recommend to the government they lead an open and constructive consultation process on the Vegetation Management Bill.
Our membership has very real concerns about a number of aspects of this Bill, and potential impacts on the rights of landholders and the opportunity to stimulate the economic development and the growth of jobs in rural and regional Queensland. Contrary to the Bill’s title it does not reinstate the previous vegetation management framework it goes considerably beyond reinstatement to introduce new requirements and prohibitions on landowners.
QFF considers that High Value Agriculture (HVA) and High Value Irrigated Agriculture (HVIA) are legitimate provisions for precise and considered management of vegetation. The draft legislation removes these and therefore hinders our ability to proactively manage agriculture’s impact on the Great Barrier Reef, proposed future development in northern Australia and address urban development and resource industry expansion.
Despite the Government’s commitment to consultation QFF was not appropriately consulted on the development of the legislation. QFF wants to engage in a genuine discussion on vegetation management but does not believe there is a willingness by the major political parties and other key stakeholders to do so.
Vegetation management is a critical issue for QFF and it is too important to be debated in an atmosphere of political theatre. We therefore call upon the government to engage in a genuine consultative process to achieve a position that will lead to long term stability and to ensure Queensland’s vegetation management is accountable for the social, environmental and economic future for Queensland and its landholders.
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