Page 2903 - Week 09 - Thursday, 18 September 2014
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That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Today I present the Nature Conservation Bill 2014. In October 2013 I outlined a range of measures that were included in the bill when I tabled an exposure draft of it. I will reiterate the purpose of the bill today and some of its key features and outline some of the changes that have been made as a result of the exposure draft consultation process which ran from 31 October last year and also some of the refinements that were informed by the roundtable consultation, the report of which was tabled in the Assembly on 15 May this year.
This bill will strengthen the ACT’s existing nature conservation framework. It will complement the recently finalised nature conservation strategy which outlines the principal strategies and actions for nature conservation in the ACT over the next decade. The Nature Conservation Act 1980 has been the primary ACT law for the protection and handling of native plants and animals, the identification and protection of threatened species and ecological communities, management of national parks and nature reserves and the conservation of the ACT’s natural resources.
This bill replaces the Nature Conservation Act 1980 and aims to update nature conservation processes and procedures to allow more efficient, flexible and effective application of nature conservation policy and importantly to make processes more accountable and transparent. The bill aims to rationalise regulatory approaches while maintaining appropriate and efficient environmental standards.
The key features of the bill are the alignment of ACT law with those of other jurisdictions, statutory requirements for monitoring of species and ecosystems and for review of a range of statutory plans and strategies, the provision of additional accountability and transparency measures particularly relating to the Conservator of Flora and Fauna’s role, and facilitating flexible approaches to management of species and ecosystems. Proposed amendments have been informed by public consultation through the discussion paper on the review of the act during 2010 and 2011, public consultation on the draft nature conservation strategy in late 2012, recommendations made by the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment and the recent exposure draft and roundtable consultation processes.
I now turn to some of the key reforms in this bill. An objects clause is included in the bill. Objects guide the intent and interpretation of provisions, including when sanctions are imposed by a court. The Nature Conservation Act 1980 did not include objects and this was identified as an issue in early consultation on the bill. The objects clause was further expanded as a result of both the exposure draft and roundtable consultations.
The primary object of the bill is to conserve, protect and enhance the biodiversity of the ACT. The objects of the bill will be achieved through implementation of the range of statutory strategies and plans made under the act as well as through the arrangements for licensing of actions and the application of appropriate offences and penalties when actions are taken contrary to licensing and permitting arrangements. In exercising a function under the act the minister must have regard to the objects of the act.
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