Protecting Queensland's Productive Landscapes

With the introduction of amendments to the NSW Mining Act to the Parliament last week to protect prime agricultural land from coal mining, the pressure is now on the Queensland Government to introduce similar protections.

Much like the situation in New South Wales, the expansion of the coal mining industry in Queensland is occurring at an unprecedented rate. Recently, the legal requirements for the assessment of environmental impacts have been suspended in order to fast-track 11 applications for mining exploration and development. The expansion of mining in Queensland continues to encroach upon the ecological and productive values of landscapes without due process or regard for the economic, environmental and social impacts.

To reflect the community’s desire for diverse and productive landscapes, we believe there is an overwhelming and urgent case for statutory protection to prevent coal mining or exploration for extractive industries for all lands and waters:

• Designated as Good Quality Agricultural Land under the Queensland State Planning Policy (SPP) 1/92 Development and Conservation of Good Quality Agricultural Land; and
• Subject to a conservation agreement or covenant under the Queensland Nature Refuge Program, or similar federal contributing to the National Reserve System.

Protection of Prime Agricultural Land

Currently, protection of prime agricultural land is a policy of the state government, but this position does not have the force that would be provided under a statutory provision. The State Planning Policy (SPP) 1/92 Development and Conservation of Good Quality Agricultural Land under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 (Qld) provides a rigorous standard for measures that ensure the preservation of agricultural land in Queensland. This policy has been maintained by successive Queensland governments, and is based on fundamental the principle that:

The Queensland Government considers that good quality agricultural land is a finite national and State resource that must be conserved and managed for the longer term. As a general aim, the exercise of planning powers should be used to protect such land from those developments that lead to its alienation or diminished productivity.

There is no substantive reason why this policy could not be easily translated into statutory protection for prime agricultural lands from coal mines and associated developments. This is, in effect, the exact legislative amendments currently before the New South Wales Parliament. And indeed, both the LNP and the Greens committed to this in the lead-up to the State Election in March of this year.

Even as it stands, because of the climate change impacts of coal production and use, the threats to food security, and the marginal agricultural status of rehabilitated mining sites, applications for coal mining on Good Quality Agricultural Land can not meet the "public benefit" test mandated under Principle 1 of the State Planning Policy. If this policy were implemented consistently, such applications for mining and exploration leases over prime farming lands would never be permissible. 

As the policy in its current form provides ineffectual protection, it is essential, and consistent with the objectives of land use planning in Queensland, that statutory protection from mining and mining related development  for agricultural lands, be enacted.

Protection of Nature Refuges on Private Land 

In addition, statutory protection from coal mining should be extended to land subject to conservation agreements.

Conservation agreements and covenants on private lands form an integral part of the Australian National Reserve System (NRS) and part of our commitment under international law to preservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity. The strength of the NRS in Australia derives from the partnership approach which combines state and federal reserves with the voluntary actions of landholders and communities, in an adaptively managed and scientifically robust system of landscape scale conservation.

In Queensland, the key mechanisms for assisting conservation on private landholdings is established through the Nature Refuge Program. Under this program, voluntary agreements are negotiated between landholders and the Queensland Government for the preservation of land with significant ecological values. Nature Refuges are recognised as a class of protected area under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, and currently comprise the second largest expanse of Queensland’s protected areas under the National Reserve System.

Unlike protected areas established under state and federal legislation, there are no regulatory protections for landholders to ensure the maintenance of environmental values of land under conservation agreements against inappropriate development. Specifically, designation as a nature refuge does not prevent or limit mineral or petroleum exploration and extraction in any way.

This is a perverse policy position. Both private funds and significant public money have been invested into the identification, establishment, maintenance and monitoring of conservation covenants on private lands. Taxpayer money is directly invested into these areas, through Queensland’s Nature Refuge and Nature Assist Programs, in the form of direct incentives and support mechanisms.

Both the environmental values and the public investment in nature refuges in Queensland face significant threat from the expansion of the coal mining industry in this state.

Under the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council's Directions for the National Reserve System, the Queensland Government is required to investigate relevant laws to assist in the protection of values on Private Protected Areas, such as those established under Queensland's Nature Refuge program. In accordance with these directives, there is a clear obligation on the State Government to provide statutory protection to designated sites subject conservation agreements on private lands, specifically from coal mining and other extractive industries.

Clearly, the value of the preservation of biodiversity and refugia provided by private and public investment in conservation management exceed the narrow and short-term economic benefit derived from mining, replete with its additional costs due to climate change. Further, the protection of ecosystem functionality at a landscape scale is a crucial climate change response of both mitigation and adaption. The forecasted impacts of climate change are likely to significantly disrupt the delivery of ecosystem services, and the environmental resilience maintained by the contribution of private landholders to the NRS. Landscape scale conservation is a key component of a strategic climate change policy.

Statutory protection of lands under conservation agreements from mining similarly provides appropriate recognition of the contribution made by private landholders to the protection of extant biodiversity and to Australia’s international obligations.

Related Stories: 

• Six Degrees Welcomes LNP's commitment to Protecting Agricultural Lands
  
• NSW Greens to Protect Prime Agricultural Lands