Attempts by the federal
government to stop potentially unlawful clearing in Queensland were reversed
after political intervention, with a highly unusual apology letter sent to
every landholder suspected of planning unlawful clearing at the direct request
of the minister, documents obtained by the Guardian under FOI laws reveal.
In December 2015 and
January 2016, the federal department of environment took the exceptional
step of asking 51 landholders with approval from the Queensland government to
clear their land, to explain why the clearing wasn’t unlawful under federal
environmental law.
But within two months,
the department issued the unusual apology letter to every recipient of the
initial letter, Guardian Australia can reveal.
In the letter Shane
Gaddes, then assistant secretary for the environment standards division, said
the department “deeply” regretted any distress caused, backflipped on demands
for information, and indicated the letter wasn’t part of any compliance action,
but rather an attempt to help the landholders avoid legal action by activists.
Internal correspondence
obtained by Guardian Australia shows the apology letter was motivated by
lobbying from National and Liberal MPs from Queensland electorates, as well as
the pro-land clearing lobby group Property Rights Australia.
More land is cleared of
trees in Queensland than the rest of the country combined – with the latest
figures showing 395,000 hectares were cleared in a single year – amounting to
about a football stadium of clearing every three minutes.
Clearing skyrocketed in
Queensland after the former Liberal National party government under the premier
Campbell Newman broke an election promise and scrapped clearing controls, introducing
several ways for farmers to more easily clear trees.
But regardless of state
approvals, if a development is likely to impact a “matter of national
environmental significance”, then it must also be approved by the federal
government under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Matters of national
environmental significance include important populations of threatened species,
the Great Barrier Reef and some migratory species.
In the initial letter
the federal department of environment said it had examined the proposal and
concluded that it “may be necessary” for the 51 landholders to seek formal
approval under federal laws. The distribution of the letter sparked outrage
among landholders.
The Queensland Nationals
senator Barry O’Sullivan said
at the time that “activist public servants” were “looking for ways to
circumvent the intentions” of Queensland and federal governments…..
The then minister for
the environment, Greg Hunt, publicly defended the action, saying: “The
department must implement the law.”
But correspondence
obtained by Guardian Australia under FoI laws reveals the cause of Hunt’s
change of heart, leading to the apology letter.
In a letter to the
then-chairman of the pro-land clearing group Property Rights Australia, Hunt
said: “In response to concerns raised by you, Senator O’Sullivan, Senator
Canavan and the Hon Warren Entsch MP, the department of environment has written
to affected landholders clarifying their obligations and the intent of the
first letter.”......
https://www.scribd.com/document/372386311/Department-of-Environment-letter-to-HVA-Permit-Holders-2Letter from Greg Hunt to Dale Stiller by The Guardian on Scribd https://www.scribd.com/document/372762129/Letter-from-Greg-Hunt-to-Dale-Stiller
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