Significant increases to environmental zones in rural and regional local government areas will impact the productivity of the agricultural and timber sectors, according to Shooters Fishers and Farmers MLC, Mark Banasiak.
Mr Banasiak’s comments follow the recent proposal in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council LGA where large swathes of land are set to be rezoned as Environmental Zoning 3- Environmental Management which will inhibit land use significantly under the guise of a proposed ‘rural land use strategy’.
“These are not small changes, it is a bold greenie land grab by the council without compensation,” said Mr Banasiak.
“The government is regulating land use out of productivity, and this will have dire economic repercussions for our regions.
“I have been approached for the last 12 months by private property owners, farmers and timber workers, about this Governments progressive take-over of private property rights through legislative instruments like E-zones and State Environmental Protection Policies.
“These instruments require no consultation and no Parliamentary oversight, yet the impact is so large on private property it devalues land and renders it useless to property owners. Banks are already assessing risks and loss of value based on the application of these instruments.
“In the remaining sitting weeks left to me in this year’s Parliamentary session, I will be launching an attack over these gross overreaching instruments, calling out the duplicity of the coalition statements regarding these instruments, and introducing legislative change to revitalise the ever-diminishing incentive to own a property.
“Regions, like the Snowy Monaro, have suffered enough.
“A farmers ability to make a buck and provide this country with food and fibre is being seriously hindered because of red and green tape.
“I will be working incredibly hard with my colleagues in the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament to cut the bureaucratic tape and allow our farmers and timber workers to get on with the job,” said Mr Banasiak.
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