“I am pleased to see that the majority of submissions received by the committee supported the re-instatement of the conservation of nature as the sole object of the Nature Conservation Act. It shows how out of touch the LNP are on this issue,” Dr Miles said.

“Cattle cause substantial compaction and erosion to these native habitats so the longer you leave cattle within these areas, the more opportunity there is to do damage to those rare and threatened species populations.”

Dr Miles stressed it was important to dispel the misconceptions surrounding amendments to revert from rolling lease back to term leases provisions.

“While an automatic roll-over right applies to some rural leases on State land, it has never applied to those on National Parks,’’ he said.

“The current legislation does not allow for a lease extension without agreement of the Chief Executive administering the Nature Conservation Act. Grazing leases on national parks are inconsistent with the management principles for national parks which is why none were extended under this OR the previous government.

“Allowing for leases in national parks to ‘roll-on’ was an ill-conceived, last minute addition by the former LNP Government. Even Agforce said in their submission that reverting the leases back would result in no change for the leaseholders.

“This Government is committed to a consultative and gradual approach that will see rolling term leases on national parks reverted back to term leases so that appropriate decisions can be made about the future use and management of these areas.

“We know some farmers are doing it tough and the change will not impact on the existing rights of the landholder under their current lease, including the term, conditions and authorised use and the continuation of their authorities has given graziers the opportunity for a gradual phase-out,” Dr Miles said.

Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef, The Honourable Steven Miles
Tuesday, February 09, 2016