Opinion editorial by Hamish McIntyre, NFF President
On 1 July, the new National Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Information Australia formally commence. This is on top of laws already in force since 1 December, after Environment Minister Murray Watt struck a deal with the Greens to push EPBC Act changes through Parliament. A separate deal with the Coalition could not be reached.
That deal stripped back the long-standing continuous use exemption for vegetation not cleared in the previous 15 years, and for some areas near waterways in Great Barrier Reef catchments.
This is not a clearing ban. Clearing remains regulated by the states. The key test now is that vegetation does not have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance, something that is complicated.
The NFF opposed these changes. We still do.
Now we are seeing exactly what farmers feared. Activist groups are using these reforms to run sweeping campaigns against agriculture, particularly northern cattle producers. A recent Great Barrier Reef report makes serious claims about land clearing, sediment and grazing, including 856,744 hectares cleared in Reef catchments from 2018 to 2023, 84% for grazing, and more than 4.9 million tonnes of fine sediment each year from the Burdekin and Fitzroy catchments.
The Greens have never felt the need to be factual and they use pictures of koalas to crowd source funds, which is just a little disingenuous.
Farmers are sick of being lectured by people who have never had to make a payroll through drought, rebuild after flood, manage weeds and pests, maintain ground cover, care for stock and keep a business alive. They are sick of being told they are the problem by campaigners whose answer is always more red tape for regional Australia.
Farmers have more at stake in healthy landscapes than most. They live with the consequences of poor ground cover, erosion, weeds, drought, flood and fire. Looking after land and water is not a campaign slogan – it is a daily job.
The task now is to secure a sensible, equitable, and cost-efficient implementation process. Priorities include:
- a plain English farmers’ guide that explains what does and does not require Commonwealth assessment;
- a workable interpretation of significant impact for farming and landscape-scale activities;
- reliable government mapping based on where species and protected matters are known to occur, not broad-brush speculation;
- a low-cost, user-friendly decision-support tool for landholders; and
- a triage process that quickly takes legitimate farming activities out of unnecessary and burdensome assessment.
Farmers reject the idea that protecting the environment means burying them in confusion, threatening compliance action, and outsourcing policy to city-based campaigners. That might make for a tidy Greens press release, but it does not make for good law.
This is the bare minimum any Australian should expect before they are asked to navigate a complex federal law with serious penalties attached.
Farmers should be cautious as the reforms commence. Where there is doubt, they should seek advice. But a system that forces ordinary farming families to pay advisors and consultants just to know whether they can get on with the job has failed.
The responsibility cannot sit with farmers alone. Government created this system. Minister Watt must ensure it is workable and stop letting the Greens use farmers as bargaining chips in environmental law reform.
Australia needs strong environmental laws. We also need food and fibre, regional jobs, productive landscapes and farmers who are treated as partners and professional stewards.
The NFF will keep working with Government to get the implementation right, but we will also call out political attacks that use the Reef, koalas or any other much-loved part of our environment as a stick to beat agriculture.
Farmers are doing their part. It is time for Canberra to do its part too: provide clarity, back practical stewardship, and stop letting the loudest voices in the room write the rules for the people who live and work on the land.
Originally published by ACM Agri.
Stacey Davidson