The NCCs media release on the decision is printed below.
9 March
2018
Court finds NSW Government land-clearing laws
invalid
The Land
and Environment Court today ruled the NSW Government’s land-clearing laws
invalid because they were made unlawfully.
“The
government has bungled the introduction of one of its signature pieces of
legislation, and in the process demonstrates its careless disregard for nature
in NSW,” Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said.
“Today’s
ruling is an embarrassing admission of failure by the Berejiklian government
and a great victory for the rule of law and the thousands of people who have
supported us in taking this action.”
The
Nature Conservation Council, represented by public interest environmental
lawyers EDO NSW, launched legal challenge against the government’s
land-clearing codes last November.
NCC had
argued through its barristers Jeremy Kirk SC and David Hume the codes were
invalid because the Primary Industries Minister failed to obtain concurrence of
the Environment Minister before making the codes, as is required by law. The
government today has conceded this was indeed the case.
“It is
deeply troubling that the government disregarded the important oversight role
of the Environment Minister when making environmental laws, but we are even
more concerned about the harmful content of the laws themselves,” Ms Smolski
said.
“By the
government’s own assessment, they will lead to a spike in clearing of up to 45%
and expose threaten wildlife habitat to destruction, including 99% of
identified koala habitat on private land.
“These
laws were made against the advice of the scientific community and against the
wishes of the vast majority of the many thousands of people who made
submissions.
“It would
be completely cynical for the government to immediately remake these laws
without first correcting their many flaws and including environmental
protections the community wants and the science says we need.
“Premier
Berejiklian must act now to prevent further plundering of our forests,
woodlands and water supplies by scrapping these laws and making new ones that
actually protect the environment.”
Ms
Smolski pledged to continue the campaign to overturn weak land-clearing laws.
“As the
state’s peak environment organization, we will do everything we can to expose
the damage of land clearing and will not stop until we have laws that protect
nature,” she said.
“These
laws are a matter of life or death for wildlife. More than 1000 plant and
animal species are at risk of extinction in this state, including the koala and
60 per cent of all our native mammals.
“Land
clearing is the main threat to many of these animals, and the laws this
government introduced unlawfully are pushing them closer to the brink.
“It is
regrettable that we had to take the government to court to make it abide by its
own laws, but it demonstrates the critical role organisations like ours play in
our democracy.”
Note: While the date at the top of this post is listed as 8 March (obviously the date in the US at the moment), it is actually March 9 in Australia.
