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Legislative Assembly
 
CATCHMENT AND LAND PROTECTION BILL

5 May 1994
Second Reading
COLEMAN

 


                       CATCHMENT AND LAND PROTECTION BILL

  Mr COLEMAN (Minister for Natural  Resources) -- I move:
  That this bill be now read a second time.
Victoria's land and water resources are vital assets upon which the wellbeing of
current  and  future Victorians depends.  One of the  most  important challenges
facing the state is the use of these resources in a way that assists  prosperity
in  all  regions while  enhancing  environmental  quality  and  maintaining  the
long-term productivity of the resources.
This bill provides  a contemporary legislative  framework to help  achieve  that
goal. Its development was an election commitment of the coalition.

The legislation brings together the processes of integrated catchment management
and the control of land  degradation  and is a recognition that land degradation
can be controlled effectively only  when it is considered as part of the overall
management and use of our natural resources. The  bill  follows  reform  of  the
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to help achieve those aims.
The bill reinforces  the importance of community  involvement in the  management
and protection of land  and  water  resources  and  will  support the efforts of
farmers and other  land-holders  throughout the  state  who are already  working
individually or as  part of Landcare and other land-holder groups to improve the
long-term productivity  of their land. It will help to  ensure that  there is  a
closer link between the management of land and  water  resources.  It applies to
the management  of public as well as private land  and to urban areas as well as
rural areas. 

In particular the bill establishes a revised system of advisory and coordinating
bodies  for  catchment management and  land  protection and  provides  for those
bodies  to oversee  the  preparation  of catchment  strategies  and area  plans.
Responsibility for  the care of land is defined and existing regulatory controls
are streamlined. The  bill  also  provides  for  the  control of pest plants and
animals.
The legislation will repeal the Soil Conservation and  Land Utilization Act 1958
and  the  Vermin and Noxious Weeds Act 1958. The bill  represents  an  extensive
integration and modification  of the provisions contained  in those two  acts. A
key element of the legislation is  the  reform  of  the existing land protection
advisory system  to  reinforce the importance  of community involvement  in  the
management  and  protection of  natural  resources and  to  enable an integrated
approach to their management.

The Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Council is to  be established by the
Minister for  Natural Resources to advise  the minister and  other  ministers as
requested  on matters relating  to catchment management and land protection. The
council will also seek  to ensure the cooperation of relevant agencies and other
groups  in  the  community  that  are  involved  in  the  management  of natural
resources. It will replace  the existing Land Protection  Council and the  State
Landcare Committee. Regional  catchment  and land  protection  boards are to  be
established throughout the state in regions to be proclaimed by the  Governor in
Council on the recommendation of the minister. Those part-time boards are to  be
appointed by  the minister after  consultation with the Minister for Agriculture
and will encourage a coordinated approach to the management of natural resources
within  their  region  in  close  cooperation   with   the  regional  community,
particularly  land-holder  groups,  local  government  organisations  and  water
authorities and promote community awareness and involvement.

They  will advise  the  government on  strategies  and priorities for  catchment
management and  land protection and will  replace at least 24  existing advisory
groups.  Initially 10  regional  boards  that will  cover  the  whole state  are
expected to  be  established. Their membership  will  be based on  the necessary
range  of skills and  experience  in  local  government,  conservation,  primary
industry, water management and land protection. 
The bill reflects  the importance of  assigning clear responsibilities  for  the
control  of land degradation. There is a general duty of care for all landowners
to  take  all  reasonable  steps  to  avoid  causing  or  contributing  to  land
degradation on land owned by another party. Those duties apply to public as well
as  private land. Duties  relating  to the responsibility  of landowners for the
control of pest plants and animals are also included. 

Each regional catchment and land protection board is to  oversee the preparation
and  maintenance of  a  regional catchment  management  strategy as a  principal
coordinating  tool  and as  the  basis  for its  ongoing  advice  to government.
Initially these will build  upon the existing regional landcare plans. Following
agreement  by the Minister for  Natural Resources after  consultation with other
ministers  whose  interests  will  be  affected  by  the  strategy,  all  public
authorities  in  undertaking  their  own activities  must  have  regard  to  the
strategy.
Within each region  special  areas  can  be identified by the catchment and land
protection board,  be declared by the Governor in Council and be the subject  of
special study, planning and action. Such areas could include, for example, water
supply  catchments  or areas  associated  with major  salinity  or  soil erosion
problems.


Page 1622
The special area plans are to be prepared under the guidance of the catchment and land protection board in collaboration with parties who will be affected by the plan. The special area plans will outline the appropriate management arrangements for the area, including cost-sharing arrangements necessary to put in place the measures required to meet the objectives of the plan. Such measures may include drainage works, revegetation schemes, farm assistance programs, research and monitoring. Special area plans may contain provisions for land-use conditions to be applied to all or part of the land under consideration in a manner similar to such conditions under the current Soil Conservation and Land Utilization Act, 1958. However, conditions will need to be justified as part of the plan and agreed by the catchment and land protection board, the Minister for Natural Resources and other relevant ministers. The need for such conditions in association with controls over the development of land through the Planning and Environment Act 1987 must be justified in the area plan. The costs of implementing the land use conditions are to be shared between the beneficiaries through arrangements to be developed and agreed upon by the catchment and land protection board as part of the special area plan. The management of water supply catchments will be enhanced. Existing proclaimed catchments will become special water supply catchment areas. The responsibility for recommending the proclamation of water supply catchments is transferred in the legislation from the Land Conservation Council to the regional catchment and land protection boards as part of the preparation and revision of their regional catchment management strategies so there will be an improved ability to link the management of land and water. The special area plan will replace the existing land use determinations for water supply catchments. The government is committed to encouraging sound land management practices through a range of measures that will result in voluntary changes by land managers. They include improved awareness through effective education and extension programs, financial incentives, market mechanisms and similar policy instruments. There is, however, a continuing need to require landowners or land managers to carry out remedial action in appropriate circumstances through the issuing of land management notices. The bill provides simplified arrangements for the preparation of notices relating to the management of land. These land management notices will replace the six different types of notices or orders contained in the existing legislation. The Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Council will recommend guidelines for the issue of land management notices. A notice can be issued by the Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to a landowner when the landowner contravenes the duties prescribed in the legislation. Before a notice can be issued, the secretary must be able to show that attempts have been made to obtain voluntary compliance and, except for issues relating to pest management, must seek agreement of the relevant catchment and land protection board to the issue of a notice. The bill provides for rights of appeal from land use conditions and land management notices. These rights are significantly enhanced over the provisions of the existing legislation and have been extended to apply to the making of the notice or condition itself and to any of the specific provisions they may contain. Provision is made in the bill for an interim land management notice to be issued by the secretary to obtain temporary control over urgent situations pending long-term resolution. The government is conscious that Crown land managed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources must satisfy the duty of care provided in the legislation. In the case of such land the catchment and land protection board for the region may recommend to the minister that the secretary be instructed to undertake action to ensure such compliance. In addition, each board will report annually on catchment management and land protection for all land in its region. The Soil Conservation and Land Utilization Act 1958 provides for control over the impact of shallow extraction of soil, sand, gravel, stone or other similar materials. This bill retains those provisions which require a person carrying out such activity to obtain authority. The authority may contain special provisions to ensure that extraction sites are suitably rehabilitated. The infestation of pest plants and animals is a major form of land degradation.
Page 1623
The bill updates and improves many of the provisions contained in the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Act 1958 for the control of pest plants and pest animals. The Governor in Council can proclaim plants and animals to be pests in all or part of the state. The four categories of proclaimed pest plants relate to the distribution of the plant and the ability to control or eradicate it. Proclaimed pest animals are to be allocated to one of four categories depending upon the magnitude of their threat and the extent to which the pest is already established in the state. Pest animals are to be managed through the prohibition of the import, keeping or sale of certain non-indigenous animals, the licensing of places to keep certain animals and the control of established pest animals by landowners or government agencies. Those categories for pest animals are in line with nationally agreed guidelines. The categorisation of weeds is to be recommended by the Victorian Catchment and Land Protection Council and the regional catchment and land protection boards for statewide and regional categories respectively. For the categorisation of pest animals the minister will be advised not only by the council and boards but also by an expert advisory committee -- the Pest Animal Advisory Committee -- to be established under this legislation. The responsibilities for managing pest plants and animals are clearly defined. Owners of public and private land must take all reasonable steps to eradicate regionally prohibited weeds, prevent the growth and spread of regionally controlled weeds and prevent the spread of established pest animals. The secretary of the department must take all reasonable steps to eradicate state prohibited weeds from all land in the state. Considerable attention has been paid to the management of roadsides. The bill provides for the continued responsibility of landowners to prevent the spread of regionally controlled weeds and established pest animals on most roadsides that adjoin their land. A new provision in the bill enables the responsibilities of landowners for the adjoining roadsides to be changed where there is agreement between the parties or an agreed special area plan for roadsides within a particular region is developed and approved. The development of an integrated approach to roadside management is thereby encouraged while providing for the management of roadside pests in the absence of such plans. The bill has been developed through extensive consultation with relevant community groups and government organisations. The government is grateful to the representatives of the 15 statewide non-government organisations that have participated on the consultative committee for this legislation since mid-1993. In July 1993 a discussion paper on the proposals was widely circulated. Discussion was encouraged by a set of regional and statewide workshop meetings and conferences. The government is grateful to all those who have participated in those activities. This process has been under the guidance of Mr Graham Hunter who for 10 years has been involved in the salinity bureau which has evolved under his leadership. I make the following statement under section 85(5) of the Constitution Act 1975 of the reasons why this bill proposes to alter or vary section 85 of that act. Clause 94 provides that it is the intention of that clause to alter or vary section 85 of the Constitution Act 1975 to the extent necessary to prevent the Supreme Court from entertaining actions of a kind referred to in clause 19 and to limit that court's jurisdiction in matters under the proposed act where exclusive jurisdiction is given to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Clause 19 gives an immunity from action to a member of the Catchment and Land Protection Council, a regional catchment and land protection board or the Pest Animal Advisory Committee, if the member performs in good faith a function under this bill or the regulations, or acts in the reasonable belief that he or she is performing such a function. The reason for limiting the Supreme Court's jurisdiction in the way I have mentioned is to prevent the administration of the new act being hindered by actions before the court and to encourage persons to submit themselves for membership of the bodies created by this bill. The limitation of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction in relation to certain appeals arises from the application of the Planning Appeals Act 1980 and carries through in this legislation the notion that the appeals are the exclusive jurisdiction of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Page 1624
In summary, this bill represents a new chapter in the long-term management of Victoria's natural resources. It will provide a statewide capacity for the coordinated management of land and water and assist joint action across the state by the community and governments to improve productivity and environmental values of our natural resources. The bill also improves our capacity to take a long-term strategic approach to catchment management, clarify responsibilities, and streamline regulatory provisions as part of the range of measures to encourage the sustainable use of our resources. As a result, there will be an improved capacity to manage the state's natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations. I commend the bill to the house. Debate adjourned on motion of Ms MARPLE (Altona). Mr COLEMAN (Minister for Natural Resources) -- I move: That the debate be adjourned until Thursday, 19 May.