AMENDMENTS ENSURE HIGHEST PROTECTION FOR ENDANGERED QUEENSLAND VEGETATION

Amendments to the Vegetation Management Act 1999 introduced into Parliament today will ensure that endangered vegetation continues to have the highest level of protection in Queensland, Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace said today.

Mr Wallace said the amendments simply clarified the intent of the Act and did not represent a shift or change in current policy. The change relates to the clarification of a technical drafting ambiguity.

Mr Wallace said the amendments verified the way in which endangered vegetation is determined, using the best scientific methodology and data available.

The Vegetation Management Act ended broadscale clearing in Queensland on December 31, 2006.

This was the single largest contribution in Australia to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enabling the nation to meet its Kyoto targets.

“These amendments strengthen this reform by providing certainty about the level of protection applying to vegetation – particularly endangered vegetation,” he said.

“Without the changes, “endangered vegetation” could be downgraded to “of concern” or “not of concern” vegetation, which is not the intent of the Vegetation Management Act.

“If these changes are not made, decision-making about the protection of vegetation would lose clarity, potentially affecting the Department of Natural Resources and Water’s ability to determine applications, and impacting unnecessarily on landholders and developers.” The community wants certainty and these changes deliver that.

Amendments to the Valuation of Land Act

The State Government also is amending the Valuation of Land Act after a 2007 court decision about a shopping centre valuation brought into question the way land valuations of highly developed land are done in Queensland.

The proposed amendments will clarify the definition of unimproved value, remove the assessment of intangible improvements from valuations and introduce a new formula for the valuation of large shopping centres.

Residential and rural properties are not affected.

The proposed amendments are designed to confirm that property valuations can be carried out in the same way they always have been done.

The exception to this is the valuation of some large shopping centres which, in the short term, will be valued using a simple formula-based approach.

This is in line with recommendations from the Land Appeal Court for a simpler valuation method to be devised for highly developed commercial properties.

Media inquiries: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace’s office, on 0407 131 654.