This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A former north Queensland Liberal National party official has urged landholders to “hang up” on commonwealth officers who are investigating whether land-clearing plans breach federal conservation laws.

Peter Spies, a land-clearing consultant and one-time Atherton LNP branch president, has also suggested landholders refuse access to federal environment department officers unless they have search warrants.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has condemned the advice as “a shocking attempt to avoid compliance with federal environment laws”.

Spies, in an email sent to landholders last week, said he believed the federal department was “in cahoots” with the state government in a campaign to halt tree clearing under permits issued by the former Newman government.

“I believe many in these departments are green people, who obviously got into these jobs as they are environmentalists,” he said, adding they paid consultants to get “predetermined outcomes”.

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The Palaszczuk government, which is trying to pass laws to wind back broadscale clearing, has referred all clearing permits to the commonwealth for investigation of any impact on species under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.



A commonwealth investigation of tree felling on the Olive Vale property in Cape York, for which Spies was a consultant, found last year that further clearing under its state permit may have significant environmental impact.

Spies told landholders: “I advise, if you are contacted by commonwealth [department of environment] officers around the EPBC Act by phone that you do not listen to them – request them to put all information or what they want to say by email and then hang up.

“[And] that you do not let commonwealth DOE officers, or their consultants, on the property before seeking further advice. I would not let them on without a warrant.”

Andrew Picone, a project officer with the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the federal government was “simply doing their job in monitoring and controlling land clearing while environmental assessments are undertaken”.

“Encouraging landholders not to cooperate with commonwealth environment officers while they investigate whether proposed clearing would trigger the EPBC Act is a shocking attempt to avoid compliance with federal environment laws,” he said.

However, Spies told landholders it was “clear that this department is continuing to intrude on lawful activities and cause you distress and burden you with red and green tape – even after sending you letters previously in late 2015 and possibly early 2016”.

“They have been instructed to stop this,” he said. “It is interesting that they have now taken to phone calls.”

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He urged landholders to seek legal advice before speaking to the federal environment department, adding he could “recommend one in particular” in David Kempton, a solicitor and former state LNP MP.

Spies also suggested landholders engage “your own private consultant/s, not using [the department’s] who are paid by them often to determine a predetermined outcome”.

A study for the Wilderness Society has shown carbon emissions from renewed tree clearing in Queensland, Australia’s biggest carbon polluter, were enough to wipe out gains under $670m federal programs in tree preservation and planting .

The RSPCA has blamed tree clearing for a surge in injured and distressed wildlife including koalas.

Spies said holders of state clearing permits were “under no compulsion to refer your permit [to the commonwealth] and that, soon as you do refer, it opens up comment from third parties”.



“If you have not commenced clearing, you have undertaken no action to suspect a ‘breach’ of the act,” he said.

Obligations under the EPBC Act were “self-assessable” and a “valid tree clearing permit” was assessed under state laws that protected 80% of the species covered under EPBC, he said.

Picone said the Newman government’s vegetation laws were a “wrecking ball policy” under which an area “at least twice the size of the ACT has been cleared”.

“As illustrated by the reckless clearing that has already taken place, environmental assessments have been totally inadequate,’ he said.

Spies and the federal environment department were contacted for comment.