We can’t do it all at once, Watt says to critics on deforestation

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The federal environment minister has left the door open to new legislation to tackle agricultural land clearing’s harm to the Great Barrier Reef, but admits it will not be stopped by the reforms currently before parliament.

The government’s package of environmental laws – to establish an Environmental Protection Agency and streamline planning process for renewables projects – will likely be voted on in the senate next week.

In Brisbane today, environment minister Murray Watt said he was still wrangling with both the Greens and the Coalition over their potential support for the bill.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says deforestation wasn’t a focus of the reforms.

He conceded it would not include measures to limit agricultural land clearing, despite calls from Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation chairman, and former head of the federal Treasury, Ken Henry.

In a speech last week, Henry — who broadly supported the changes — said the reforms would do little to stop land clearing in the catchment feeding into the Great Barrier Reef.

“The inability of the reforms to deal with the ongoing large-scale clearing of native vegetation is a major problem, particularly when it poses a clear and well recognised threat to the health of one of Queensland’s greatest assets,” Henry said.

In the year to August 2023, land accumulatively twice the size of the city of Brisbane was cleared across Queensland, according to the latest state government statistics.

Clearing activity in the Great Barrier Reef catchment accounted for 44 per cent of that total, 86 per cent of which was for pasture.

“Yet neither the present laws nor the proposed reforms, provide the Australian government with the ability to act to protect the reef from irresponsible clearing, due to a 25-year-old loophole,” Henry said.

When asked about those concerns, Watt said the two had met multiple times this year, and he was aware of Henry’s view but would not be taking it on himself.

Land clearing near Gin Gin in late 2024.

“We’re not going to get every environmental issue solved in one piece of legislation, but I’m certainly aware there are groups, including people in the room, that would like more action on land clearing, and I’m sure they’ll continue raising those points,” Watt said at a Queensland Media Club event at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

Watt said the aim of the current legislation was to follow the recommendations of a 2020 review done by former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Graeme Samuel.

“Where we’ve been coming from with these reforms is very much trying to deliver the recommendations of Graeme Samuel’s review, which went to a range of matters that needed to be done for environmental protection as well as speeding up those processes,” Watt said.

“Graeme Samuel didn’t address the point of land clearing in his report, so our focus has been delivering his recommendations rather than some of the other issues that others have been raising.”

Ahead of the senate vote, Watt encouraged parties to his left and right to remember the government could go either way to get the changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act through.

“In the end we will probably go with whatever sides available is prepared to come closest to that package that we introduced to parliament,” he said.

“There is an incentive to both sides to not put in ridiculous demands because there is another option for us to go with on the other side of the chamber.”

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