On 31 July 2020, the NSW Government received the Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry. As a result the Bushfires Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 was introduced into Parliament on Tuesday 10 November 2020. Following debate and discussion it was passed through the Legislative Assembly, without amendment, on Wednesday 11 November. The Government touted this Amendment Bill as if it were open to access by all regional landholders, while in almost the same breath Mr David Elliott (Minister for Police and Emergency Services) said, "There will be stiff fines for people that leave their communities vulnerable to bushfires, with penalties set to be doubled for corporations and public landowner that fail to meet their obligations".
This Bill was to provide landholders with additional means for property protection, among other things. It was to amend the Rural Fires Act 1997 and other legislation to permit vegetation clearing work for bushfire protection if specified conditions are met. It's those conditions which rule out these bushfire protections to all regional landholders.
The Bill as debated and passed by the Legislative Assembly included this Clause to be amended in the Rural Fires Act 1997:
Schedule 1[27] permits vegetation clearing work on land if specified conditions are met. The conditions are that the vegetation clearing work must be—
(a) within 25 metres of a holding’s boundary with adjoining land, and
(b) on land in a rural zone, and
(c) by or with the authority of the owner of the holding, and
(d) for the purpose of bush fire hazard reduction, and
(e) in accordance with a Rural Boundary Clearing Code that is in force.
As a result of the conditions presented, landholders who are proposed to have the zoning amended away from a rural zone (RU1, RU2, RU3, RU4, RU5 and RU6) will not be allowed to use this provision.
The final Amendment Bill can be found here: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bill/files/3817/Passed%20by%20both%20Houses.pdf
An extract from the Hansard dated 10 November, 2020 is below:
Legislative Assembly Hansard – 10 November 2020– Proof BUSHFIRES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2020 First Reading Bill introduced on motion by Mr David Elliott, read a first time and printed. Second Reading Speech Mr DAVID ELLIOTT (Baulkham Hills—Minister for Police and Emergency Services)(18:23:03):I move:
That this bill be now read a second time. I am pleased to introduce the Bushfires Legislation Amendment Bill 2020.
The bill amends the Rural Fires Act 1997, the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 and other legislation to implement changes in response to the devastating 2019-20 bushfire season, known as our Black Summer.
The majority of the amendments in the bill respond to recommendations of the New South Wales independent Bushfire Inquiry and will help to reduce bushfire risk and protect life and property or help those who are recovering and rebuilding in the wake of the fires. Our last fire season was like none other our State has faced in the past—indeed, it was unprecedented. I t was a fire season with close to 12,000 separate fire incidents, which accumulated over 2,777 firefighting shifts in response. Ground crews were supported by a number of aircraft, which dropped in excess of 24 million litres of firefighting retardant, mission critical to assist those on the front lines suppress the blazes. It was a fire season which saw 5.5 million hectares of our State burn, destroying more than 2,000 homes and causing close to $1 billion in infrastructure losses—mainly to farming properties, including damage to over 600,000 hectares of pastures alone. After every fire season there are lessons to be learnt, and this Government is determined to learn the lessons of the last bushfire season, arming our communities for future seasons and fostering a greater resilience to the threat of bushfire. Earlier this year the Government commissioned the NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry, headed up by two eminently qualified persons: former Deputy Commissioner of the NSW Police Force Mr Dave Owens, APM, and former NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer Professor Mary O'Kane, AC. The inquiry heard from operational experts and community members alike, receiving nearly 2,000 submissions and holding consultations with bushfire-affected communities right across the State.
The final report handed down 76 recommendations to improve our State's planning, preparation for and response to bushfires, all of which have been accepted. In response to the recommendations an initial $192 million funding package has been announced, which includes $36million for a new first responder mental health strategy for emergency services, $23 million in additional personal protective clothing for frontline firefighters and $17 million to retrofit NSW RFS and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service vehicles and replace Fire and Rescue NSW tankers.
I now turn to the bill's provisions, starting with amendments to the Rural Fires Act 1997. The inquiry heard that landlords felt unable to manage and prepare for bushfires effectively because of the complexity of approval processes for vegetation management. Recommendation No. 28 of the inquiry called upon Government to:review vegetation clearing policies to ensure that the processes are clear and easy to navigate for the community, and that they enable appropriate bush fire risk management by individual landowners with out undue cost or complexity. In response, and to achieve greater clarity and simplicity for rural landholders, the bill proposes at new section 100RB to empower owners and occupiers to clear vegetation on their property with out the need for a licence, approval, consent or other authorisation under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 or any other Act or instrument, provided they meet the following conditions. The first condition is that the vegetation clearing work is carried out within 25 metres of their property boundary. In cases where a property comprises of several parcels of land that constitute or are worked as a single property, the border of the property for the purposes of the code will be the combined border of those lots. The bill defines land in this respect as a "holding". The second condition is that they must satisfy that the vegetation clearing work is carried out on land in a rural zone. The bill defines a "rural zone" as any of the following zones under the standard instrument, or a zone under another instrument that is equivalent to one of the following zones: RU1 Primary Production, RU2 Rural Landscape, RU3 Forestry, RU4 Primary Production Small Lots, RU5 Village or RU6 Transition. Additionally, the vegetation clearing work is to be carried out by or with the authority of the owner. The vegetation clearing work is to be carried out for the purposes of bushfire hazard reduction. Finally, vegetation clearing work may be carried out if a rural boundary clearing code is in force and that, indeed, the vegetation clearing work is carried out in accordance with this code.
Amendments presented in the Legislative Council
An amendment presented by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers included the amendment of the clauses referring to zoning to include E1-4 zones.
Justin Field (Independent) proposed to remove zoning conditions, or if that was not passed to include a provision for the 'protecting a building or other assets'.
One Nation proposed to increase the distance to 50 metres and that any NSW property owner with reasonable cause to believe that clearing is required to preserve life and property could remove vegetation without penalty, providing consultation with the local fire fighting service was undertaken. This clause would have overridden any vegetation protection laws.
None of the above amendments were carried.
The Opposition went so far as to offer an amendment to reduce the distance to 12.5 metres - this was not carried either.
The Bill was introduced to the Legislative Council on Thursday 12 November 2020, where it underwent the first and second readings on 12 and 17 November. Amendments were presented and the third reading happened on 18 November. The amended Amendment Bill passed the Legislative Council night of 18 November.
The Legislative Assembly debated and subsequently passed the Bill on 19 November 2020. As quickly as that. 7 days is all it took for people with E-zones to be excluded further from protections, to remove further rights to protect property and people.
Here are a few extracts from the Legislative Assembly debate on 19 November 2020:
The bill implements recommendation 28 of the inquiry, which called upon the Government to review vegetation clearing policies to ensure they are clear and easy to navigate for the community and that they enable appropriate bushfire risk management by individual landowners without undue cost or complexity. - Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy)
I put on record my acknowledgement of comments made by a number of members about the primacy of life and property over trees, including the heartfelt contribution by the Hon. Mark Latham, MLC. I make it clear that the Government would never seek to introduce legislation that puts life and property behind the lives of animals or trees. - Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy)
The bill also creates a greater consistency between public and private landholders in a public safety‑first approach....If we expect private landholders to take these actions, so too should our public landholders. - Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy)
The bill as amended does not deviate substantially from the original bill and will help make New South Wales safer from bush fires. - Ms MELANIE GIBBONS (Holsworthy)
It is still far from perfect but I really do believe that those amendments and our efforts have improved it considerably. As the bill was rammed through the Legislative Assembly—with none of our stakeholders consulted—we were rushed and had very little time to negotiate, to secure support and talk to stakeholders about the impact of the bill. - Ms TRISH DOYLE (Blue Mountains)
It is the first time that Aboriginal people will have a seat at the decision-making table for bushfire risk management in this State. - Mr DAVID HARRIS (Wyong)
It may not seem so in the broader context of the importance of what happened 12 months ago, but certainly cultural burning gives us an opportunity to find a better way—a traditional way—to fight bushfires. - Mr DAVID HARRIS (Wyong)
I make it clear that the New South Wales Labor Opposition has secured significant improvements to the Berejiklian Government's Bushfires Legislation Amendment Bill, which is to pass the Parliament. Because of Labor's successful amendments, the Government's proposal to facilitate privatised fire brigades has been withdrawn. - Ms KATE WASHINGTON (Port Stephens)
A positive amendment to come out of the Legislative Council was the introduction of reporting on the Inquiry's recommendations:
138 NSW Bushfire Inquiry—Ministerial progress reports
The Minister must cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a report on the Government’s progress in implementing all 76 recommendations of the Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, dated 31 July 2020, every 3 months.
Lets hope that happens.