Queensland’s new land clearing bill will help turn the tide, despite its flaws

Queensland’s Labor government this month tabled a bill to tighten the regulation of land clearing. Queensland is by far the worst offender in this area, following a litany of reversals of vegetation protection.

After a period of tightened laws between 2004 and 2013, the Newman government set about unwinding key reforms during its 2012-15 term.

Following these changes, land-clearing rates quadrupled to almost 400,000 hectares per year, to the dismay of conservationists, with rising concern about the impacts on wild animal welfare and wider ecological impacts.

Read the piece on The Conversation - “Queensland’s new land clearing bill will help turn the tide, despite its flaws.”

Australia’s 2016 environment scorecard: rains return but in some cases too late

Green shoots: a mangrove in Cairns enjoys
the wet. Not all of Australia was so lucky.

After several dry years, vegetation across much of Australia received much-needed rains in 2016. But this broad pattern of improvement belies some major environmental damage in parts of the country – particularly in Tasmania, which was scorched by bushfire, the Gulf Coast and Cape York, which missed out on the rains’ return, and on the Great Barrier Reef, which suffered massive coral bleaching.

That is the conclusion of our report on Australia’s Environment in 2016, released today. It’s a summary of the state of the nation’s environmental indicators, which we compiled by analysing huge amounts of satellite imagery, ground data, and water and landscape modelling.

The report and the accompanying Australia’s Environment Explorer website summarise those data into graphs and plots for 13 environmental indicators. With most data extending back to at least the year 2000, this makes it possible to see how the environment is changing.

The overall story is one of rainfall boom after four years of bust. The national average rainfall in 2016 was again well above average, albeit not quite as much as in the bumper years 2010-11.

Read the story on The Conversation by a Professor of Water Science and Management from the Fenner School of Environment & Society at the Australian National University, Albert Van Dijk, and a research academic, also from the Fenner School of Environment & Society, David Summers - “Australia’s 2016 environment scorecard: rains return but in some cases too late.”

Tree clearing clamp down creates backlash for Labor

The divisive issue of tree clearing.

Federal Labor's push to clamp down on tree clearing has created backlash in farming communities in the key state of Queensland, putting the Opposition on a collision course with rural electorates.

As part of its new-look climate change policy, Labor has threatened to override state governments that fail to put the brakes on vegetation clearing.

Clearing involves bulldozing trees, or ripping them from the ground with a large metal chain, to make way for agriculture or development.

"I think you need to trust the people who are on the land and who have managed the land for many generations," Queensland grazier Nikki Cameron said.

Read the ABC story - “Land clearing laws spark backlash from Queensland farmers as Labor pledges federal takeover.”

(Nikki Cameron’s observation about farmers having managed the land for many generations is obviously true, but the facts that guided those generations, which are now being followed by the existing generation have changed and we need to think what former economist the late John Maynard Keynes said: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

Today’s climate, in every sense, is different than what it was just a generation ago and what was once appropriate, no longer is – Robert McLean).