Cracks appear in Baird government's land

Jan 12, 2024

This was published 6 years ago

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Divisions within the Baird government over its controversial native vegetation reforms are emerging, as Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith warned they could trigger "further irreversible land degradation".

In a letter to a constituent, Mr Notley-Smith, the member for Coogee, said he had told Premier Mike Baird and Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair of his "strong concerns".

"I am very concerned that these reforms could lead to further irreversible land degradation and endangerment of native wildlife habitat," the MP said in his letter.

The government is planning to repeal existing native vegetation and threatened species acts, replacing them with biodiversity conservation bills originally aimed at providing better environmental outcomes while giving farmers more freedom to clear land.

No need for camouflage next week?: There are concerns that farmers will be able to clear much more land after new codes come into force.

Last week, Hugh Possingham, an expert on the panel that reviewed the existing legislation, announced he was quitting as an adviser because the proposed laws would potentially double the amount of broad-scale land clearing in the state.

Mr Notley-Smith said the government should proceed with care and, if necessary, delay the introduction of the bills – now planned for before the end of this year – until they are improved.

"If in doubt, then we should go back and re-examine what we were intending to achieve with the bills," he told Fairfax Media, adding "a number of experts are not convinced" by the proposed changes.

Environment Minister Mark Speakman said the package of reforms would take into account views from the consultation period. "The vast majority of any clearing will, in fact, be subject to notification to – and/or – certification by [local land services] and, at the higher end of the scale, include biodiversity offsetting," Mr Speakman said. "As to the second issue [raised in the letter], biodiversity offsetting by definition means no net loss of biodiversity, and any clearing not subject to biodiversity offsetting will be more than adequately compensated for by perpetual set asides and huge investment in private land conservation."

Mr Notley-Smith, (left) with NSW Premier Mike Baird.Credit: Janie Barrett

NSW Farmers were more dismissive of the claims.

"We note Bruce Notley-Smith is the local member of one of the most urbanised and developed parts of NSW," a NSW Farmers spokesman Mitchell Clapham said.

"We encourage Mr Notley-Smith to meet with farmers, the people providing food and fibre to his urban electorate, to better understand the need for land reform management."

Labor's environment spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said the proposed changes were a result of a deal between the Nationals, the Liberals and NSW Farmers.

"If Mr Notley-Smith was serious he would join scientists, environmentalists and farmers in calling on his government to abandon these disastrous laws," she said.

The Greens environment spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi said Mr Baird ought to listen to Liberal MPs on his own team, even if he was determined to ignore the advice of environment groups, scientists and even the leading adviser to the government on land-clearing laws.

"At least one of them seems to understand the destructive impacts self-assessable codes and expanding offsets will have on wildlife and biodiversity," Dr Faruqi said. "If these terrible laws come in, there will be huge and irreversible destruction to the environment."

Mr Notley-Smith said it was too early to say if he would abstain from voting or vote against the package.

"Let's fall off that bridge when we come to it," he said.

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