Queensland’s Liberal National party has accused “extreme green groups” of “fearmongering” regarding the state’s land-clearing laws and seeking to deny economic opportunities for remote and Indigenous communities.
The opposition party’s comments come after the Wilderness Society raised concerns about the approval of 1,130 square kilometres of bushland for clearance by the former LNP government, which it said would create the equivalent of 9.66m tonnes of CO2, or nearly 2% of Australia’s annual emissions.
The deputy premier Jackie Trad has ordered an investigation into the former government’s decision days before the January election to approve tree clearing on the Cape York property that conservationists say contains world heritage-quality woodlands, 17 threatened species, and waterways flowing into the Great Barrier Reef.
“The allegations into the clearing [of nearly 32,000 hectares] of land on Olive Vale station while the caretaker conventions were in place, is a matter of great concern to me,” Trad told the ABC.
“Given the serious issues raised, I have instructed the director general to investigate the allegations as a matter of priority.”
Tim Seelig, the Wilderness Society Queensland’s campaign manager, said the LNP, by freeing up tree clearing for intensive agriculture, had made a mockery of federal government attempts to limit emissions by keeping trees in the ground.
Andrew Cripps, the opposition spokesman for state development and natural resources, said the party’s changes to the Vegetation Management Act in 2013 were “sensible and balanced” and were conceived to give “new opportunities for the sustainable growth” of agriculture.
“Extreme green groups like the Wilderness Society have frequently peddled inaccurate information and engaged in fearmongering in an effort to prevent farmers from growing their agricultural businesses and rural communities from securing new job opportunities,” he said.
“In particular, it’s nothing new to see extreme green groups like the Wilderness Society seek to deny disadvantaged remote and Indigenous communities on Cape York new opportunities to grow by blocking new projects to create jobs.”
Cripps said farmers had “warmly welcomed” the changes after being “unfairly targeted and victimised by unnecessarily restrictive and complex legislation under previous Labor governments”.
He said applications to clear land for high-value agriculture were rigorously assessed, needing to show that additional farming would be financially viable, that soil was suitable and that sufficient water was available for any irrigation.
The changes expressly did not allow the clearing of vegetation “to improve pastures for grazing purposes”, he said.
Olive Vale is owned by cattle industry company Ryan Global, which has proposed increasing the number of cattle on the property from 15,000 to 25,000.
Paul Ryan from Ryan Global told the ABC the company wished to predominantly grow sorghum, which would supplement its cattle operations.
“We are possibly going to be the largest employer in the local area and [we will be] providing jobs for people who are desperate for work at the moment,” he said.
