AGRICULTURE Minister Leanne Donaldson’s understanding of how Labor’s new vegetation laws would damage agriculture has been brought into question following her address to the AgForce State conference in Rockhampton today.
Opposition agriculture spokesperson Deb Frecklington said Ms Donaldson had left the conference audience wondering what they’d done to deserve the latest overnight assault from Palaszczuk Government.
“How can a minister speak about progressing one of the key economic drivers of our state’s economy, and yet vote to hamstring management and expanded production?” Ms Frecklington said.
“Worse, her claim to the AgForce conference that ‘the vegetation management issue only appeared in the house (parliament) last night so people are still getting their heads around it this morning’ was simply not true.
“Perhaps someone in her office can get a transcript of today’s ABC Country Hour and listen to what her Deputy-Leader Jackie Trad had to say.
“Ms Trad was crystal clear that Labor’s plans with vegetation management had been well and truly on the books as part of Palaszczuk Labor’s election platform.
“As a Cabinet Minister she would have known exactly what was being hatched by her deputy leader and the rest of the Palaszczuk Labor team.”
The Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) Amendment Bill created firery debate after its surprise introduction to parliament just before 9.30pm on Thursday night. The controversial bill was sent to the Agriculture, Resources and Environment only after independent speaker Peter Wellington used his casting vote to side with Labor.
However, Labor’s expectation that the committee would report back to parliament on April 15 was thwarted when independents Billy Gordon and Rob Pyne sided with the LNP opposition and the Katter Party to extend the committee’s reporting time until June 30.
The bill seeks not only to wind back reforms made to the Vegetation Management Act introduced by the former LNP government in 2013, but places new restrictions on landholders.
The introduction of the bill has been heavily criticised by farm groups but welcomed by Labor-aligned green groups which provided political support to Labor during the January 2015 election campaign.
Ms Frecklington said the new laws were an assault on individual property rights.
“They will hamstring farmers and landholders from managing and developing their properties,” she said.
“They will stifle rural investment, and lower a dark cloud over property values and equities in many areas of rural and regional Queensland.
“A lot of landholders will be fearful of calls from their banks, asking what this all means.”
