Stop Runaway Land Clearing

Dear Premier and Ministers,

I am writing to urge you to take action on land clearing. Another year has passed, the data shows that land clearing has jumped again, yet you have not taken action to stop it.

I understand the NSW Greens have flagged they will introduce a bill to stop runaway land clearing. I urge you to support them, in accordance with your election commitments.

As a first step I ask that you fix the changes made by the Biodiversity Conservation Bill 2016 and the Local Land Services Amendment Bill 2016 which enabled runaway land-clearing to this extent.

This is an essential step in halting runaway land clearing in New South Wales, which has increased by some 72% during your first term of government.

Premier, you voted against these laws in 2016, and several of your Government’s Ministers are on the record detailing the ways in which these laws contribute towards the destruction of nature, the extinction of native animals and worsening the impacts of climate change.

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, you told Parliament that “What is being proposed in these bills today will result in significant increases in land clearing and the destruction of precious native vegetation in New South Wales.”

Minister for Transport John Graham, you said “What might a better package look like? It would be one that rules out a return to broadscale land clearing, that rules out offsets that let developers destroy habitat in exchange for cash, and that publicly maps all of the State's biodiversity.”

Treasurer the Honourable Daniel Mookhey, you said "I was concerned when the Government's own expert involved in designing these laws denounced the laws saying that they will revive broad-based land clearing. Surely this is reason enough to give this House pause, but ultimately this legislation will pass…. what we will definitely see is what has happened in Queensland and Western Australia, the return of broad-based land clearing. In time we will be back in this House undoing the harm that tonight we commit."

Former Transport Minister Jo Haylen, you said “The legislation will lead to broadscale land clearing… with no environmental targets, baselines or aims...this legislation will decimate and irreversibly damage our native ecology.”

Attorney General Michael Daley, you said “Members in this place should have regard not only to the present but to the future. This is a bill that decimates the future.”
Minister for Police Yasmin Catley, you said that "Not even our protected and endangered native flora and fauna are safe. It is shameful…The solution for this Government is clear: abandon this approach."

Minister for Roads Jenny Aitchison, you said that the laws would "lead to further extinction of native animals, drive up greenhouse gas emissions and represent a complete capitulation to the most extreme elements of The Nationals."
Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington, you said that "The last thing we need is to take a backwards step in our regulations."

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs David Harris, you said that "these bills will be a boon to developers and will push the attack on our environment even further.”

Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong, you said that "this bill allows poor land management practices to thrive and it swings the pendulum too far in favour of landowners who undertake unwarranted large-scale land clearing at tremendous public cost."

These comments are all well-considered, and many of the predictions you made have now come to pass.

While I appreciate some tinkering around the edges of the biodiversity offsets system has occurred, the real work to prevent continuing land-clearing needs to be done. 
I hope that the concern for the environment that you all displayed when you voted against these laws can be now re-enlivened. You are in Government, why have you not taken the action that is needed?

Please act on land clearing. It is causing real harm to wildlife, driving the wildlife extinction crisis and diminishing the resilience of our ecosystems.

Stop Runaway Land Clearing

Land clearing is skyrocketing and it’s destroying wildlife across New South Wales.

90 football fields of vegetation are being cleared every single day under Labor Premier Chris Minns - and the problem is getting worse.

In 2024 we saw a 16% jump in land clearing, and in 2023 we saw a staggering 40% jump.

The Greens will introduce a Bill to fix our broken land clearing laws - and we need your help to get it passed.

In 2016, bad laws were passed by the Liberals and Nationals to benefit land developers, at the expense of nature, and land clearing rates have gone through the roof.

When these laws were passed, Labor was in opposition and voted against them. But now, the Minns Labor Government have been in power for over 3 years and they’ve done nothing to stop land clearing.

Labor’s refusal to fix these offensive laws and their inaction on land clearing is harming wildlife and driving some of the world’s most rare and precious plants and animals closer and closer to extinction.

We can’t let Labor’s inaction continue to drive the wildlife extinction crisis, the time to undo the harm is now.

Can you send a one-click email to Labor Ministers telling them to vote for our Bill and save wildlife from extinction?

Stop Runaway Land Clearing

Stop Runaway Land Clearing

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