Tom Dunbabin and Peter McGlone defends Forest Practices Authority and Forest Practices Act

Prominent primary producer Tom Dunbabin has thrown his support behind the Tasmanian Forest Practices Authority and the state’s current land-clearing regulations despite recent opposition from some farmers.

The Farmers and Landowners Action Group was formed in reaction to the Fergusson family receiving a $100,000 fine from the FPA for illegal land clearing at their Grindstone Bay property near Triabunna.

Headed up by Lindsay White, FLAG’s pressure on the Tasmanian Government resulted in the Liberals announcing a review into forest practices regulations for farmers and landowners.

Mr Dunbabin’s family owns Bangor near Dunalley and is critical of FLAG.

“Every landowner knows what the Forest Practices Act is and what it stands for,” he said.

“If they’re going to clear land, they have an obligation to find out what it actually entails for them to do and not to do.

“If you don’t obey the law with respect to vegetation clearance, you should be fined.”

The Forest Practices Act has been in place in Tasmania since 1985.

“Most landowners recognise that they are custodians of the land,” Mr Dunbabin said.

“They might have legal title to it, but it’s only titles within our legal system that gives them the right to do things.

“It doesn’t give them the right to do anything they want, and most landowners realised that they have got a responsibility to look after the land they manage.”

Mr Dunbabin said there were large areas of private land in Tasmania with covenants aimed at protecting wildlife and vegetation.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM PETER McGLONE:

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust has campaigned for more than fifty years for controls on clearing of native vegetation including on farm land and other private land. I personally have been involved since 1991. Where forest or other native vegetation is removed and permanently replaced with pasture grass or plantations (conversion) there is total and irreversible removal of the species present. The broader community is justified in expecting the strongest possible regulation of clearing on private land and penalties for contraventions.

There has been a lot of comments from farmers and other landowners about regulation by the Forest Practices Authority and a recent court case that resulted in a landowner being fined $100,000 for clearing without approval. 

The most important point to make in response is to acknowledge that the Minister for Resources Felix Ellis has announced a review of the Forest Practices Regulations. In the Tasmanian Country on 5 June 2026 the minister committed to this review and that it would include public consultation. I encourage landowners to get involved.

Some farmers have told the Tasmanian Country that the rules are too strict, the processes are too complex and difficult and their concerns have not been heard by the Forest Practices Authority.

Concerns over the complexity of forest practices regulations, particularly for smaller private landowners, was one of the reasons for the last review of the Forest Practices Code between 2017-20. A key outcome was to ensure that the code was easier to understand and apply, but alas, not stronger. 

Despite this, unauthorised clearing has been increasingly detected and prosecuted by the FPA and many instances go unreported. Critically, prosecution is only considered when clearing exceeds thresholds for a wide range of exceptions. Forest Practices Regulations allow some clearing without approval where it is a buffer for infrastructure e.g. roads, fences, buildings and drainage channels, where an area was previously cleared land, for fire management work and other reasons. 

The FPA annual reports since 2020-21 have reported a growing problem of clearing on private land that contravened the Forest Practices Act often involving landowners clearing without an approved Forest Practices Plan. Many offenders didn't even contact the FPA for advice. The results were an increase in prosecutions resulting in fines and court convictions.

Clearing without approval reached a peak in 2021-22 with 29 offences resulting in $657,000 in fines and in 2022-23 with 18 offences and $993,890 fines. On average about 200 hectares are being cleared annually without approval. In 2024 a north west landowner was convicted by the Supreme Court for clearing and conversion of a wetland and was fined $120,000.

During this period the FPA increased its efforts to increase awareness of legal obligations including launching the 'Check before you chop' campaign. But some don't hear the message or choose to ignore it.

Undoubtedly the FPA can do more to get the message through to all landowners but equally there seems that some landowners will only respond to stricter rules and higher fines.

In 2021-22 the FPA Board Chair reported in the annual report on the need to offer higher fines and that other measures may need to be considered, including rehabilitation orders, stating that “fines have not appeared to be a sufficient deterrent”. 

The retiring FPA Chief Forest Practices Officer Peter Volker told the ABC in 2023 that for some people 'a $100,000 fine is just the cost of doing business".

Better detection through the use of artificial intelligence to analyse satellite images may be a new response that can potentially catch offenders before they do too much damage and deter others. We could also learn from past programs where Federal Government funding was offered as an incentive to farmers to conserve important native vegetation.

Peter McGlone

CEO

Tasmanian Conservation Trust