FLAG meets with the FPA

Members of the Farmers and Landowners Action Group (FLAG) met with Forestry Protection Authority chair Pam Allan, Chief Forest Practices Officer Anne Chuter and government ministers in Launceston yesterday to discuss the core reasons farmers are taking issue with the enforcement practices around clearing trees on agricultural land.

FLAG founder Lindsay White and Triabunna farmer Melissa Fergusson, whose family’s prosecution by the FPA sparked a statewide backlash, attended the meeting with retired Sydney workplace lawyer and investigator Alison Page who outlined outcomes they would like to see achieved in an upcoming review promised by Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis.

Mr Ellis and Primary Industries Minister Gavin Pearce attended the meeting and TasFarmers chair Nathan Calman, board member Richard Hallet, Forestry Committee chair Rob O'Connor and Penny Wells, chair of the Forest Practices Advisory Council which advises the FPA, were also in the room.

Farmers James Walch and Andrew Dunbabbin were also there to make strong points on behalf of primary producers, saying that while the FPA had done its job regarding administrating forestry, it had broken its trust with the farming community and “didn’t have a clue”.

According to Mr White it was a “constructive meeting”, with government representatives having little to say after FLAG outlined many examples of upsetting dealings with FPA officers and the consequences of the subsequent prosecutions.

“We’re asking for an independent inquiry and we were pleased to hear that Ms Wells agreed and said that should be the minimum,” he said.

“Ms Allan said the FPA is doing the best it can and recognises that mistakes have been made, saying much of what we communicated was the first she had heard of these things.”

Mr White said it was important to meet directly and illustrate the real impact FPA regulations and investigations were having on Tasmanian farmers.

“I would like to thank Minister Ellis for giving us the opportunity to sit down and talk through the issues that have caused so much concern and heartache for Tasmanian primary producers, which is the driving force behind our call for a full parliamentary inquiry as a matter of urgency," Mr White said.

"It was a good opportunity to put our concerns directly to the people involved in the current system. We felt they listened to what we had to say and understood that these issues are having a very real impact on farmers and their families.

“We appreciated being given the time to explain why we believe things need to change.”

FLAG is preparing four key requests to the state government which is said is aimed at delivering greater accountability, certainty and fairness for primary producers dealing with the Forest Practices Authority.

They are:

• A full independent Parliamentary inquiry into the past conduct of the FPA during enforcement action against primary producers, reporting to an independent panel;
• A moratorium on investigations and enforcement action against primary producers pending the outcome of that inquiry;
• An urgent review of the current exemptions from Forest Practices Plans so they better reflect the agricultural exemptions under the EPBC Act so farmers can have some certainty about what they can and can't do; and
• The FPA works with TasFarmers to make sure the current guidance on the FPA website is practical and suitable for normal farming activities.

"The ball is now with the Government. We are asking them to come back to us quickly so we can get some certainty for farmers and start bringing an end to the stress, frustration and unnecessary pressure this system is causing,” Mr White said.