For years, environmentalists have been
ringing alarm bells over the unregulated expansion of intensive horticulture
across the North Coast. Only two months ago this column published an article identifying
serious problems relating to water availability, and the failure of state and
local governments to regulate the industry.
The Clarence Environment Centre recently
received a letter from the Primary Industries Minister, responding to concerns,
not just about lack of regulation, but the widespread failure to enforce
compliance with existing regulations. In it, the Minister went to great lengths
to explain why further regulation should not be imposed, while praising the
industry for its willingness to self-regulate in the face of criticism.
However, he ignored the fact that an
inter-agency committee, formed specifically to solve the emerging problems, has
reported multiple cases of law breaking, and a willingness to regard paying
fines as a cost of doing business.
One extraordinary statement in the
Minister's letter was that: “Placing a DA requirement across all
horticultural activities could inhibit other industries and may encourage
non-compliant behaviour”.
Apart from the fact that nobody is asking for
regulation of “all” horticultural activities, only intensive commercial
operations, the suggestion that an industry should not be regulated for fear it
would not comply with regulations, is ludicrous. This is a bit like scrapping
speed limits because people will ignore them!
Now, last week's explosive Four Corners
revelations about the theft of water by ‘big agriculture’ from the
Murray-Darling Basin raises serious concerns about the role of the Department
of Primary Industry and politicians in what appears to be a thoroughly
scandalous state of affairs.
The combination of these revelations,
along with the widespread failure of compliance enforcement, and reluctance to
regulate, suggests the likelihood of serious corruption in water management in
NSW.
It is hoped that the inevitable inquiry is
fully independent and that it will reveal the truth, as well as ensuring that
those responsible for theft and other illegalities are dealt with to the full
extent of the law.
Furthermore, from now on compliance
enforcement must be given the priority it so desperately needs.
- John Edwards
This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on July 31, 2017.
