Sustainable Land Management Legislation Given Farmer Approval
AUSTRALIA - Land managers and farmers have praised the Queensland Parliament for passing a new law that will support sustainable food production.Introduced to the chamber last month, the Vegetation Management Framework Bill (2013) has been described as the most common sense amendment for a generation.
The previous Vegetation Management Act (1999) was not favoured by farmers which AgForce Queensland President, Ian Burnett described as an arduous administrative burden that offered no environmental outcomes.
“Minister Cripps, Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney and Premier Campbell Newman are to be applauded for this move to instate a rational and balanced operating environment for our primary producers as opposed to the skewed laws that were in place over the past 14 years,” said Ian Burnett.
He insisted that the changes are powered by a desire to enable landowners to sustainably manage their land and not prompted by news of broad scale land clearing.
“Primary producers are acutely aware of their responsibility to care for the environment and know properly looking after land and waterways in fundamental to future generations and to the longevity of their businesses,” Mr Burnett added. “Despite scare campaigns from extreme environmental groups stating otherwise these changes have nothing to do with broad scale land clearing and everything to do with landholders having the ability to sustainably manage their land.”
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