PROPERTY RIGHTS AUSTRALIA
Members’ Newsletter
Thursday 8th October 2015
The return of the compliance officer
The Qld Environment Minister, Steven Miles, has announced that environmental enforcement officers will enforce compliance of minimum standards on farmers so to meet targets for the Great Barrier Reef. The concentration is on cane farmers for a start but don’t be surprised if attention is turned to all agricultural producers in reef catchments.
There is little doubt that this government has engineered the justification to take this action. It’s a return of the deplorable, divisive, destructive big stick approach, be it introduced a little more subtly than this model’s creator, former Premier Peter Beattie.
Soon after elected to office reef targets for sediment, nutrient & chemical residue were introduced by Steven Miles who stated at the time that they were “ambitious.” Subsequent statements and this latest action gives reason to believe that these targets weren’t just ambitious; they were by design, unrealistic.
The motivation is political with not only the question if green preferences played a part but there is a lot of political capital to be exploited as having brought in measures to be seen to “save the reef.”
Once again the State Government has shown that at least some Ministers are paying more attention to the lobbying of green groups than showing support for one the State’s most productive industries.
http://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/3405288/farmers-run-aground-on-reef/
Reforms to restore fairness for landowners – Water & WROLA Acts
At last this issue about the Qld ALP government not acting upon their commitment to reverse the changes would that will give the mining industry a statutory right to take associated underground water at the cost of other water users has made it to the metropolitan media.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-30/qld-labor-government-to-backflip-on-groundwater-laws/6814072
On the same afternoon as this story was released a week ago, 2 senior government ministers separately made statements that the government wasn’t going to “back flip” on reversing the worst aspects of the yet unproclaimed Newman LNP government WROLA Act.
PRA have had concerns in recent months of the lack of progress by the government to return fairness for landowners. The government was certainly dragging their feet and in danger of allowing the WROLA provisions to be proclaimed by default which would have been the same result but unobserved outcome as a public announcement “back flip.”
At the PRA conference Tom Crothers in his presentation had also expressed concern at the lack of direction coming from the government on this issue.
Basin Sustainability Alliance AGM
Tom Crothers will be a guest speaker at the Basin Sustainability Alliance AGM, Tuesday 13th October 2015 from 3.30pm at BMO Business Centre 178 Drayton Street Dalby. RSVP to chelseaw@bmo.com.au
http://notatanycost.com.au/unlimited-water-take-should-be-stopped/
Great Artesian Basin Water resources plan
https://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/water/catchments-planning/catchments/great-artesian-basin/public-notice
On this web page you will find the Statement of Proposals to which submissions can be made; also a list of dates for public meetings for 18 venues. The first two dates have passed but if you go the above link you can find the closest venue of 16 remaining meetings.
The statement of Proposals considers the following range of matters:
•whether to make additional groundwater available, and how this may occur without compromising management arrangements that deal with existing entitlements or flows to groundwater dependent ecosystems
•how to address potential resource stress and groundwater pressure decline
•if the current management strategies can be improved given the changing demand for water and new knowledge available
•how our understanding of the GAB can be improved through robust monitoring, assessment and reporting requirements
•whether to expand the scope of the plan to include other regional aquifers
•how the plan can better protect the flows that support springs and watercourses.
COAL SEAM GAS GROUNDWATER MONITORING PROGRAM (CSG Net) 28 October Wandoan
A Community Based Groundwater Monitoring Program
CSG Net is a bore owner/landholder based monitoring and recording program of artesian bore pressures and sub-artesian bore water levels. Direction and help on monitoring and recording techniques will be provided by experienced groundwater technical staff from the state’s Coal Seam Gas Compliance Unit (CSGCU).
What Will The Workshop Cover?
• Regional hydrogeology.
• CSG development in the region.
• Existing monitoring networks.
• Methods for monitoring pressures/water levels in bores.
• Collecting, storing and sharing results.
For more information please contact Ross Carruthers on 4529 1568 or Mabbie Elson on 4529 1567.
Regards
Dale Stiller
Dale Stiller, Chairman
Property Rights Australia
Phone: 07 49213430
Fax: 07 49213870
Email: pra1@bigpond.net.au
www.propertyrightsaustralia.org
STAND YOUR GROUND