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The Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Forestry, John Cobb today urged Peter Spencer to end his hunger strike.
Mr Cobb said he was very aware of the adverse affects of the NSW Governments land clearing bans and he knew Mr Spencer personally. Mr Spencer has been a passionate advocate for farmers’ property rights since his time as a General Councillor with the NSW Farmers Association.
“The NSW Labor Party has refused from the day then Minister Kimberly Maxwell Yeadon introduced SEPP46 (which banned land clearing on the 10th of August 1995), to listen to and act on the legitimate concerns of farmers.
“The mental toll that adverse and often contradictory environmental regulations are having on farmers is immense and many are at their wits end after battling the NSW Government for over fourteen years to get some sense into the blanket land clearing laws.
“There are very real adverse environmental impacts with the NSW Labor Government’s land clearing legislation, particularly in western NSW where woody weeds have created mono-cultures which erode easily and become virtual deserts where even ants have a hard time surviving.
“Similarly in other states land clearing laws have been blamed for lives being lost in the terrible Black Saturday Fires. In Victoria property owners were banned from clearing dangerous vegetation around their homes.
Mr Cobb said the Coalition shares many of the concerns raised by Mr Spencer and his supporters. Blanket laws on land clearing vegetation management, as introduced in NSW and some other states, have often failed to recognise individual circumstances.
“The Coalition has always worked towards the recognition of property rights in law, such as those involving water, and we believe Labor Party should recognise the same.
“The Australian Government does not have the constitutional power to manage native vegetation, however, the Prime Minister can not walk away from the property rights issue.
“While I understand that Mr Spencer wants to talk directly to Kevin Rudd the best thing that Kevin Rudd can do is to talk to his NSW Labor colleagues into righting the wrongs of the past fourteen years.
Mr Cobb said the NSW State Government is primarily responsible for dealing with the issues of concern to Mr Spencer and the NSW Premier should immediately commit to an independent review of Mr Spencer’s land clearing application and a broader inquiry into the adverse affects of its land clearing legislation.
“Farmers are the nations premier land managers and if they say there is a problem with the current land management laws then governments need to listen,” Mr Cobb said.
Contact: Tom Chesson – 0418 415597
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