SUBMISSION

Key points from the submission sent to the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into the vegetation management laws by Dr Bill Burrows.

“THIS submission focusses on the science and economics underpinning the management of grazed woodlands in northeast Australia - with emphases given to Queensland examples. For perspective, the area of woodlands grazed by domestic livestock alone in Queensland is well over 60M ha2. (It is greater than the total area of all land dedicated to agricultural pursuits, cropping, horticulture, dairying, sheep and cattle grazing in New South Wales).”

■ For grazing holdings with woodland vegetation there are several major influences affecting the viability (profitability) of the enterprise contained therein. These include: the area of the land that is actually wooded, whether the ‘intact’ (uncleared) or any regrowth areas are ‘thickening’ – increasing in woody plant basal area, canopy cover or plant density and the structure of the retained woodland vegetation.

■ Grazed woodland managers regularly observe that that the woody component of the vegetation is thickening up. Left unaddressed this severely impacts pasture production potential (and thus the livestock carrying capacity) of affected land.

■ There would have been no Carbon Farming Initiative or Direct Action Plan activities in the woodlands of NW NSW and SW Qld if past and present Australian governments had not in effect acknowledged with these programs that our grazed woodlands are thickening up.

■ Reduced pasture yield results in lower livestock carrying capacity and has a major impact on the financial viability of the grazing enterprise.

■ Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act 1999 (as amended 2018) imposes widespread bans and/or very strict regulations on the clearing of trees/shrubs and woody regrowth on rural holdings without acknowledging that in the absence of woodland management, on-going thickening will further negatively impact the ability to maintain the viability the enterprise.

To view the whole submission visit www.aph.gov.au and search ‘Dr Bill Burrows’.