Showing posts with label NSW Nationals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NSW Nationals. Show all posts

Sunday 1 November 2020

Forests and Koalas: why the NSW Nationals are so willing to betray communities in the Northern Rivers region


Before the disastrous 2019-2020 bushfire season the NSW North Coast region comprised 9.7 million hectares of land, with 65 per cent of it forested. Over half (3.4 million hectares) of the region’s forests were in private ownership, spread across thousands of individual holdings, according to NSW Dept. of Primary Industries (DPI).


The north coast had a diverse array of forest types and most of the tree cover was estimated to be between >20 to <30 metres and >30 to <40 metres in height across an est. 20,706 square kilometres.


This is how the Berejiklian Government saw those forests within the Northern Rivers region before the mega bushfires came through:


Extent of forest cover in north-east New South Wales



Extent of harvestable timber on private land and operating timber mills



Again, according to the DPI in March 2019; Properties with native forests that generated ‘very high’ stumpage values (based on their yield association) were mainly located between Coffs Harbour and Casino. Properties with native forests with ‘high’ stumpage values were far more widespread extending in a broad band (50-100 kilometres wide) along the full length of the north coast.


Properties in early 2019 which had a ‘Very High’ suitability for timber production were located between 50km and 100km from the coast between Grafton and the Queensland Border, with ‘High’ suitability properties occupying a broader band that extended from Coffs Harbour to the Queensland border. At its widest point, west of Casino, this band is said to extend 130 kilometres inland.


Joint EPA-Dept. of Industry Forest Science Unit predictive mapping of remaining NSW koala habitat based on sighting records, vegetation, soils and climate


"Modelling koala habitat",  NSW EPA. July 2019

It is easy to see that most of the remaining Northern Rivers koala habitat falls within those areas with operating timber mills and land on which the NSW Forestry Corporation has cast its rapacious eye.

According to the NSW Forestry Corporation around 60 per cent of the net harvest area available for timber production in the Northern Rivers region was impacted by fires during the 2019-2020 bushfire season, but this corporation appears to view a coastal strip around 100kms wide and 216kms long - containing thousands of parcels of private  land - as able post-fires to supply it with commercial timber for years to come.


The forestry industry is actively lobbying government for access to more native timber citing increased employment as one benefit. 


Despite the fact that Australia-wide the forestry industry appears to only employ around 10,700 people in a potential 2020 workforce of est. 13.5 million (ABS September 2020) and, according to industry reports; The Forestry and Logging industry has performed poorly over the past five years. Industry output is projected to decline at an annualised 1.3% over the period, with downstream demand also weakening…..

Furthermore, lower demand from log sawmilling, and declines in residential building construction have contributed to several years of revenue declines. Industry revenue is expected to decline at an annualised 1.4% over the five years through 2020-21, to $4.7 billion.


What this all means is that stressed koala communities already competing with urban expansion, increased traffic, historical and recent habitat loss, are now being threatened by the business strategy of one of the largest forestry corporations in Australia, the financial self-interest of around 32 operating timber mills within the Northern Rivers region, as well as the political self-interest of 12 National Party members who sit in the NSW Legislative Assembly and 6 National Party members sitting in the Legislative Council.


This shared self-interest in encapsulated in the bill passed by the Assembly earlier this month and still to be voted on by the Council, the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020which extinguishes state koala habitat protection policy on most NSW land and seeks to (i) allow the commercial logging of native trees to continue unimpeded on private land by circumventing a government review of the private forestry system and (ii) to allow future clearing of native timber on farmland without the need for authorisation under other state legislationincluding the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. 


If any North Coast Voices readers have concerns about the fate of forests and koalas on the NSW North Coast I suggest that they phone or email members of the NSW Legislative Council before Tuesday, 10 November 2020, using the link below which takes you straight to the parliamentary web page which lists the contact details for all 42 members:

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/pages/all-members.aspx?&house=lc&tab=browse


BACKGROUND


SATURDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2019

THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2020

TUESDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2020

WEDNESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2020

TUESDAY, 10 MARCH 2020

Thursday 29 October 2020

Want to know if your local state MP voted to drive the koala to extinction in New South Wales? Names and electorates are noted here

 

 Koala resting, Bangalow area NSW
IMAGE: 
Northern Rivers Community Foundation

In early September 2020 the NSW Nationals parliamentary party threatened to leave the Berejiklian Coalition Government and move to the Independent benches in the NSW Legislative Assembly, the Lower House of the NSW Parliament, if the NSW Liberal parliamentary party did not agree to effectively gut State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019.


Although there were only 12 members of the National Party sitting in the Legislative Assembly, Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian caved into this threatening political posturing within days.



On 21 October 2020 members of the NSW Berejiklian Government in the Lower House voted on the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020.


All the National Party members of the NSW Legislative Assembly were present for the vote.


This is the Hansard record of that final third reading vote placed in alphabetical order with members’ electorates identified:


AYES


Anderson, K – Nationals (Tamworth electorate)

Barilaro, J – Nationals (Monaro electorate)

Bromhead, S – Nationals (Myall Lakes electorate)

Cooke, S (teller) – Nationals (Cootamundra electorate)

Gulaptis, C – Nationals (Clarence electorate)

Johnsen, M – Nationals (Upper Hunter electorate)

Marshall, A – Nationals (Northern Tablelands electorate)

Pavey, M – Nationals (Oxley electorate)

Provest, G -Nationals (Tweed electorate)

Saunders, D – Nationals (Dubbo electorate)

Singh, G – Nationals (Coffs Harbour electorate)

Toole, P – Nationals (Bathurst electorate)


Ayres, S – Liberal (Penrith electorate)

Berejiklian, G – Liberal (Willoughby electorate)

Clancy, J – Liberal (Albury electorate)

Conolly, K – Liberal (Riverstone electorate)

Constance, A – Liberal (Bega electorate)

Coure, M – Liberal (Oatley electorate)

Crouch, A (teller) – Liberal (Terrigal electorate)

Davies, T – Liberal ( electorate)

Dominello, V – Liberal (Ryde electorate)

Elliot, D – Liberal (Baulkham electorate)

Evans, L - Liberal (Heathcoast electorate)

Gibbons, M – Liberal (Holsworthy electorate)

Griffin, J – Liberal (Manly electorate)

Hancock, S – Liberal (South Coast electorate)

Hazzard, B – Liberal (Wakehurst electorate)

Henskens, A – Liberal (Kur-ring-gai electorate)

Kean, M – Liberal (Hornsby electorate)

Lee, G – Liberal (Parramatta electorate)

Lindsay, W – Liberal (East Hills electorate)

Perrottet, D – Liberal (Epping electorate)

Preston, R – Liberal (Hawkesbury electorate)

Petinos, E – Liberal (Miranda electorate)

Roberts, A – Liberal (Lane Cove electorate)

Sidgreaves, P – Liberal (Camden electorate)

Sidoti, J – Liberal (Drummoyne electorate)

Smith, N – Liberal (Wollondilly electorate)

Speakman, M – Liberal (Cronulla electorate)

Stokes, R – Liberal (Pittwater electorate)

Taylor, M – Liberal (Seven Hills electorate)

Tuckerman, W – Liberal (Goulburn electorate)

Upton, G – Liberal (Vaucluse electorate)

Ward, G – Liberal (Kiama electorate)

Williams, L – Liberal (Port Macquarie electorate)

Williams, R– Liberal (Castle Hill electorate)


McGirr, J – Independent (Wagga Wagga electorate)


Butler, R - Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (Barwon electorate)

Dalton, H - Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (Murray electorate)

Donato, P - Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (Orange electorate)


I invite readers to remember these names at the next NSW state election on Saturday, 25 March 2023.


Koala joey riding on its mother's back
IMAGE: Environmental Defender's Office

Wednesday 28 October 2020

Will this be one of the last attempts available to communities seeking to legally curb rapacious loggers from destroying New South Wales koala habitat?

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 21 October 2020:


The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has commenced five prosecutions in the Land and Environment Court against Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCN) for allegedly breaching licence requirements in 2018.


Allegedly committed by FCN’s contractors, the offences – the felling of trees in exclusion zones and protected areas, some of which are specifically set up to protect koala habitat – took place in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest (west southwest of Glenreagh).


The FCN states in a media release that it had set aside “three times” the required kola habitat “under the rule set” and that the “EPA’s allegations relate to nine trees”, despite “protecting an additional 6,000 trees”.


The prosecutions follow the EPA issuing a stop work order on Saturday July 18, to cease tree harvesting, in compartments 32, 33 and 34 of the forest, where “serious breaches of forestry operations rules” were alleged to have been committed.


The EPA alleges that the current alleged breaches occurred in compartments 539 and 540 of the forest, in breach of Forestry Corporation’s licence.


The EPA’s acting chief executive officer, Jacqueleine Moore, said it was unacceptable to put vulnerable species, such as the koala, in danger by breaking the rules.


We have strict procedures in place to protect wildlife, and if they are disregarded it can put these animals under threat,” Ms Moore said.


The EPA alleges that: Forestry Corporation’s contractors felled trees and operated snig tracks (tracks created by harvesting machinery) within a koala high use area exclusion zone located within Compartment 539 of the forest; and, contractors felled trees in protected rainforest areas and an exclusion zone around warm temperate rainforest.


Offences relating to koala exclusion zones carry a maximum penalty of $440,000 each; the other “three offences carry a maximum penalty of $110,000 each”.


In this instance, after a long investigation process that involved interviews and a consultation process with Forestry Corporation, the EPA has decided that these actions warrant prosecution,” Ms Moore said.


We’re sending a strong message that laws created to protect the environment, and in particular vulnerable species like the koala, must be adhered to.”…..


It should be noted that NSW state forests are exempt from the provisions of State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala HabitatProtection) 2019 (amended 3 September & 16 October 2020), as is private land being commercially logged under a private native forestry plan.


Exemptions go further and it appears all land now listed as "any area of the State" in Part 5A below (apart from certain land in Ballina, Coffs Harbour City, Lismore, Kempsey & Port Stephens local government areas) is no longer covered by the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP under amendments to NSW Land Services Act 2013 being rammed through state parliament by the NSW National Party. 


It seems that this may possibly only leave urban land already covered by a local government registered development control plan and the national park estate with a certain degree of protection


PART 5A - LAND MANAGEMENT (NATIVE VEGETATION)


This Part applies to any area of the State, other than the following--


(a) urban areas of the State to which State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017 applies,

(b) national park estate and other conservation areas, namely--

(i) a wilderness area declared under the Wilderness Act 1987 , or

(ii) land reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or acquired by the Minister administering that Act under Part 11 of that Act, or

(iii) land dedicated or set apart as a flora reserve under the Forestry Act 2012 (or any Act repealed by that Act), or

(iv) land to which an interim heritage order or listing on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977 applies, or

(v) a declared area of outstanding biodiversity value under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 , or

(vi) an area declared to be critical habitat under Division 3 of Part 7A of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 , or

(vii) a declared World Heritage property within the meaning of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 of the Commonwealth, or

(viii) land dedicated or reserved under the Crown Lands Act 1989 for similar public purposes for which land is reserved, declared or listed under the other Acts referred to in this paragraph, or

(ix) land to which an interim protection order under Part 11 (Regulatory compliance mechanisms) of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 applies, or

(x) Lord Howe Island,

(c) State forestry land, namely--

(i) land that is a State forest or timber reserve under the Forestry Act 2012 , or

(ii) land acquired under Division 4 of Part 3 of the Forestry Act 2012 for the purposes of a State forest (not being any such land acquired for the purposes of a timber plantation).

The regulations may amend this section for the purposes of adding or removing areas of the State to which this Part applies (or of revising references to areas of the State). [my yellow highlighting]


Tuesday 27 October 2020

NSW Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis boasts of his betrayal of his electorate


Clarence Valley Independent, 20 October 2020:


Koalas will have more protection but farmers and foresters won’t be saddled with unreasonable red tape following the introduction of a much improved State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) into State Parliament last Thursday (October 15), according to Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis.


The Local Land Services Amendment Bill 2020” is a vast improvement on what was proposed initially and a win not just for the Nationals, but also for farmers, the timber industry and indeed koalas,” Mr Gulaptis said.


I was prepared to walk away from the Government over the original Liberal Party plan, but this is a terrific compromise secured by the Nationals in NSW Government, in which rural industries are protected but property developers will be banned from disturbing koala habitat.


As I said before, the red tape stops at the farm gate and that is how it should be,” Mr Gulaptis concluded.


This is a précis the final 16 October 2020 version of the amended NSW SEPP, State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019:

  • Retains its new commencement date of 1 March 2020;
  • Doesn’t apply to - (b) land dedicated under the Forestry Act 2012 as State forest or a flora reserve. An exemption also contained in the previous 3 September 2020 version of this SEPP;

  • Only applies to 83 named local government areas out of a total of 128 local government areas and to - (a) in the koala management area specified in Schedule 1 opposite the local government area, or (b) if more than 1 koala management area is specified, in each of those koala management areas. Clauses also included in the previous version of this SEPP;
  • Only applies to land classified as core koala habitat which is over 1 hectare in size. This applied to land in the previous version of the SEPP as well;
  • Doesn’t apply to any land on which a development application has already been lodged, as was the case under the previous version of this SEPP;
  • Tightens the definition of core koala habitat so that a higher level of proof is required at this clause - (a) an area of land which has been assessed by a suitably qualified and experienced person in accordance with the Guideline as being highly suitable koala habitat and where koalas are recorded as being present at the time of assessment of the land as highly suitable koala habitat;
  • Made more land exempt from its provisions - (c) land on which biodiversity certification has been conferred, and is in force, under Part 8 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016;
  • Allows larger buildings or buildings on a different part of a post-bushfire residential lot by repealing - (b) the replacement dwelling house is within the existing building footprint;
  • Removes this provision protecting koala habitat identified by a particular form of mapping - (i) is not identified on the Koala Development Application Map.

It should be noted that at no time did the 3 September 2020 version of this SEPP ever apply to agricultural land broadly. The existing rules for routine farming activity and rural land clearing did not change and, if farmers had koala habitat on their land they could still apply and get approval to clear koala habitat under existing land clearing laws.


Provisions in Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 have little or nothing to do with protecting koalas or farmers with koalas on their land - despite the Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis attempting to marry the Koala Habitation Protection SEPP and this Land Services amendment in the public's mind.


What the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 actually does is remove all local government areas from the protection of State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019 with the exception of just five local government areas - Ballina, Coffs Harbour City, Kempsey, Lismore and Port Stephens.


The NSW Nationals wanted the bill to go forward using the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP as the excuse masking its real intent - to establish as law those clauses that (i) allow the commercial logging of native trees to continue unimpeded on private land by circumventing a government review of the private forestry system and (ii) to allow future clearing of native timber on farmland without the need for authorisation under other state legislation, including the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 .


On 20 October 2020 the NSW Parliament’s Legislation Review Committee stated in part of the impending legislation of which Gulaptis now so proudly boasts:


The [Land Services] Bill seeks to remove several requirements for land owners to obtain development consent under Parts 4 and 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (the EPA Act). In doing so, the Committee notes that the Bill would remove local councils' ability to assess development applications, engage with relevant neighbour and community stakeholders, and make recommendations regarding the proposed development changes. It may thereby impact on the rights of these stakeholders to participate in such processes and be consulted about issues that may affect them…... [my yellow highlighting]


Chris Gulaptis is boasting of bad law and misrepresenting exactly what is contained in the new legislation to residents and voters in his electorate.


This former surveyor, property developer and mining operations consultant voted for the extinction of a unique species, the Australian Koala, and for virtually unconstrained land clearance which will see many more native species at threat of extinction in New South Wales. 


Wednesday 23 September 2020

NSW Nationals in disarray in 2020


NSW Nationals Leader and Deputy-Primer John Barilaro is reportedly on mental health leave from 18 September 2020 and MLA for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams quit the Nationals on 20 September to join the NSW Liberal Party.

This junior partner in the Coalition is showing the strain of having such a divisive leader. Barilaro has been at the helm for less than four years and in that time the Nationals have lost four seats in the state parliament - Lismore, Murray, Barwon and now Port Macquarie. 

The Nationals now hold only 12 seats in the 93 seat NSW Legislative Assembly.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 2020:

Two senior NSW Nationals figures have quit the party and Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams has had her membership of the Liberals accepted a day after abandoning the Nationals in disgust.

Former Nationals leader and deputy premier Troy Grant last week resigned from the party, while former Water Minister and deputy leader Niall Blair has not renewed his membership.

Mr Grant and Mr Blair did not want to comment on their decision to leave the Nationals, but a source close to Mr Grant said he did not "support the direction of the party".

Ms Williams' membership of the Liberals was rubber-stamped on Monday morning, ensuring she did not have to sit on the crossbench when NSW Parliament resumes on Tuesday.

Her shock resignation on Sunday came after John Barilaro, the NSW Nationals' leader, and his MPs threatened to destroy the Coalition by moving to the crossbench if they did not get a raft of changes over a contested koala planning policy.

Ms Williams released a statement on Sunday saying: "Sadly, the events of the past weeks and months have cemented my decision."

The former head of the New South Wales Young Nationals and chair of its women’s council Jess Price-Purnell has also resigned from the party after being threatened with expulsion from the party because she publicly criticised John Barilaro's handling of the Koala planning policy issue.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

Orara Valley branch of NSW National Party dissolved to protect sitting Nats MLA for Coffs Harbour



The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 September 2020:

The NSW Nationals have been accused of branch-stacking and then dissolving a rural branch after members raised questions about the preselection process of a state MP.

The MP, Gurmesh Singh, was selected at a November 2018 meeting for the seat of Coffs Harbour. But office holders of one of the seat's two branches raised doubts about the voting process and his eligibility.

Members of the Orara Valley branch, who had raised the questions, say they turned up to their annual general meeting in July 2019 only to find their numbers had suddenly swelled by almost double.

The newcomers included Andrew Fraser, Mr Singh's predecessor as MP for Coffs Harbour and currently chairman of NSW Nationals. They intervened to spill existing office holders before the meeting ended in chaos.

"We wondered just what the hell had gone on," Barry Lee, the branch's then vice chairman, told The Sun-Herald at his house in Bonville, near Coffs. "We were not experts at fighting these kinds of battles."

After months of emails and letters to party headquarters, then state director Ross Cadell told the members on January 31 – his final day in the role – that Orara was "no longer [a] constitutionally formed branch", effectively dissolving it.....

The local party spat has the potential to create wider ripples for the NSW Nationals, who recently threatened to take down the government of Premier Gladys Berejiklian over koala planning laws they said undermined farmers' rights to clear land as they see fit.

One of the first MPs to complain about the koala guidelines was Mr Singh, who, according to a Channel Seven report, told Planning Minister Rob Stokes that his family's properties could be affected.

Mr Singh told The Sun-Herald he had spoken to Mr Stokes "about various issues" involving the koala planning policy……

Mr Singh referred all questions about his eligibility to run as a Nationals candidate at the 2019 election to the state's central organisation. Mr Singh declined to say whether he had been a member for the requisite six months prior to the election, nor whether he had received a waiver from the party's organisation as an alternative.

The Sun-Herald also asked Mr Fraser for comment about why he changed branches from Coffs to the Orara Valley, and whether his transfer had been approved by the local branch three months before he voted at the July meeting.

Mr Fraser has told the local newspaper he had property in the Orara Valley, making him eligible to switch branches.

Documents seen by the The Sun-Herald show the small branch's numbers swelled from 12 to 23 as a result of those transfers. Mr Cadell, who now works as a lobbyist at Newcastle Ports, defended the party's actions in closing down the Orara branch.

"The rules were entirely followed," he said. "The only problem was they didn't like the rules. It was a large amount of people [who switched] but it is quite regular for people to transfer between branches."

Members, though, describe being bewildered by the sudden interest in their branch from party heavyweights, with one saying: "We abhor branch stacking within the Labor Party but we witnessed it ourselves ... I couldn't believe it."…...

Gurmesh Singh is a blueberry and macadamia nut farmer as well as the NSW Nationals MLA for Coffs Harbour since the March 2019 state election.

He opposed amendments to the NSW Water Act aimed at increasing transparency concerning ownership of water licenses.

Singh along with Chris Gulaptis wwas strongly behind National Party Leader and  NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, as he attempted to remove SEPP protections for koalas and koala habitat.

Singh also supports his electorate Coffs Harbour as the site for any future nuclear power station.

It is also alleged that he attempted to quash a Coffs Harbour City Council move to request state and federal funding during the pandemic - apparently even going so far as to enlist the assistance of the Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock in an attempt to block a specific project.

The Oz Group Co-op Ltd of which Singh was then chair and founding director received $1 million in federal government funding in February 2018 - the same year he stood for National Party preselection. 

There have been a number of  allegations of conflicts of interest on Singh's part since he entered the NSW Parliament.