Submission to the Commonwealth Standing Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources from the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Inquiry into the impact on the agricultural sector of vegetation and land management policies, regulations and restrictions. January 2019 This publication has been compiled by the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy. © State of Queensland, 2018 The Queensland Government supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of its information. The copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Under this licence you are free, without having to seek our permission, to use this publication in accordance with the licence terms. You must keep intact the copyright notice and attribute the State of Queensland as the source of the publication. Note: Some content in this publication may have different licence terms as indicated. 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Table of contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Vegetation Management ........................................................................................................................ 2 Overview of the framework .................................................................................................................. 3 Fire management ................................................................................................................................. 4 Firebreaks and fire management lines ................................................................................................ 4 Hazard reduction .................................................................................................................................. 6 Economic impact ................................................................................................................................. 6 Communication .................................................................................................................................... 7 State Land Management ........................................................................................................................ 8 Overview of state land management.................................................................................................. 8 Fire management ................................................................................................................................. 8 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 9 Submission to the Inquiry into the impact on the agricultural sector of vegetation and land management policies, regulations and restrictions. 1 Introduction Thank you for the invitation to provide a submission to the inquiry into the impact on the agricultural sector of vegetation and land management policies, regulations and restrictions. This submission addresses the management of native vegetation and state land, which are matters within the portfolio responsibilities of the Hon. Anthony Lynham, Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy. Other matters relevant to the inquiry’s terms of reference are within the portfolios of my Queensland Ministerial colleagues, the Hon. Craig Crawford, Minister for Fire and Emergency Services; the Hon. Mark Furner, Minister for Agricultural Development and Fisheries; and the Hon. Leeanne Enoch, Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts. I understand that the Committee has not invited a submission from these Ministers.I encourage the Committee to seek submissions from them on any relevant matters pertaining to their portfolios. The Queensland Government has established an independent review of the effectiveness of preparedness activity and response to the heatwave conditions and the major bushfires that occurred in Queensland from late November to early December 2018. The review, being conducted by the Inspector-General Emergency Management, will report to the Minister for Fire and Emergency Services. The terms of reference provided for the Standing Committee’s inquiry are extremely broad. For two of the terms of reference (past and current practices of land and vegetation by the agricultural sector and regional communities; and the economic impact of vegetation and land management policies, regulations and restrictions), a comprehensive response to these criteria would require review of policy and legislative frameworks over several decades across a number of portfolios, which is not possible within the inquiry timeframes. This submission addresses matters relating to vegetation management and State land management, as they relate to fire preparedness and economic impact. Vegetation Management Since 1999, vegetation management in Queensland has been regulated under the Vegetation Management Act 1999 (VMA) and the Planning Act 2016 and its predecessor Acts. Over the last twenty years, the VMA has been central to achievement of outcomes crucial to the interests of the Queensland and Australian Governments that go beyond the Inquiry’s terms of reference. In particular, the conservation of native vegetation facilitated by the VMA has been assessed by the Australian Greenhouse Office to have be critical to Australia achieving its commitment to reductions in carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol1. In 2018, the Australian and Queensland Governments identified the VMA and its regulation of vegetation clearing within the catchments of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as key reasons the GBR should not be listed as endangered by the IUCN2. Indeed, that Report to the World Heritage Committee stated:- “Changes to Queensland’s vegetation management laws were passed in 2018, delivering on the action in the Plan to strengthen Queensland’s vegetation management legislation. The changes protect high-value regrowth vegetation in Reef catchments and prevent broadscale clearing of remnant vegetation for new agricultural development. Regulation of vegetation clearing within 50 metres of a watercourse was also extended to the Burnett-Mary, Eastern Cape York and Fitzroy regions to provide consistent protection of riparian vegetation in all Great Barrier Reef catchments. The changes are expected to deliver reduced carbon emissions and sediment run-off, as well as provide increased protection for endangered, vulnerable and near-threatened species….” 1 Queensland Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2004, Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra, 2006 2 Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan—July 2018, Commonwealth of Australia 2018. Submission to the Inquiry into the impact on the agricultural sector of vegetation and land management policies, regulations and restrictions. 2 The Queensland Government is committed to evidence based policy and will continue to evaluate legislation, policies or programs on the basis of the best available science. This is evidenced by the fact that the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is currently engaged to review the Accepted Development Vegetation Clearing Codes that provide for low risk vegetation management activities under the vegetation management framework. The Queensland Government is also investing $3.9 million in a scientific program to support enhanced vegetation mapping to identify and report on the condition and extent of regrowth vegetation and inform habitat conservation. Overview of the framework Queensland’s vegetation management framework regulates the clearing of native woody vegetation, including trees and shrubs, but not non-woody plants such as grasses. The framework, through the Planning Act 2016 and the Vegetation Management Act 1999, regulates the clearing of remnant vegetation. It also regulates the clearing of high value regrowth vegetation, and all native regrowth vegetation alongside watercourses in Great Barrier Reef catchments. The framework uses land tenure and the Regulated Vegetation Management Map to determine how vegetation is regulated. Areas are shown on the Regulated Vegetation Management Map as either: • Category A areas which are areas subject to greater clearing restrictions, including areas subject to offsets, voluntary declarations, compliance notices, as well as exchange areas. • Category B areas which are remnant vegetation. • Category C areas which are high-value regrowth vegetation . • Category R areas which are regrowth watercourse areas in priority Great Barrier Reef catchments (Burdekin, Mackay, Whitsunday and Wet Tropics); and • Category X areas which are exempt from requiring approval to clear under the vegetation management framework. The statewide ‘regulated vegetation management map’ shows the location of areas of vegetation in each category. Landholders may opt to obtain a ‘Property Map of Assessable Vegetation’ or PMAV, which shows vegetation categories at a property scale. PMAVs are an important tool to show landholders