Cattlemen call out CDU professor Brett Murphy’s land clearing comments
The NT cattle industry has called for CDU to investigate links between some of their academics and “extreme” activist organisations following comments on land clearing made during recent months.
Northern Territory
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The Northern Territory cattle industry has called for Charles Darwin University to investigate links between some of their academics and “extreme” activist organisations following comments on land clearing made during recent months.
NT Cattlemen’s Association chief executive Will Evans has written to CDU vice-chancellor Scott Bowman seeking a review into the independence of some of its academics.
“There are academics working at CDU today who are not just against development
in the Northern Territory, they are openly hostile to it,” Mr Evans said.
“This conduct is unacceptable and must be investigated.
“Taking students’ money, while actively lobbying against the industries in which these
same students are hoping to be employed, is unconscionable. Academic freedom is
one thing. Using your position at a university, and the reputation that institution has,
for political campaigning is another entirely and must be appropriately managed by
the CDU leadership.
“To date we do not believe it has been. CDU has been the recipient of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars this year alone. They’ve got a new campus to house students and new courses to offer.
“This is good news for the Territory, but there must be balance. Extreme environmental
activists didn’t give CDU this money. We all did, and we all deserve to see this fact
respected.
“The public’s investment in CDU has been made to support the economic future of
the Territory and in the hope these students will stay here after they graduate, working in
Territory businesses.
“CDU should be leading on this matter in building a better future for the Northern Territory, not trailing behind. Unless something changes in holding people and institutions
accountable for making false statements about industry in the Territory, the jobs that
should be there for these students upon graduation simply won’t be.”
Top of the NTCA’s hit-list was an interview conducted last month, with CDU academic Professor Brett Murphy, who riffed about Territory land clearing regulations while forecasting a potential land clearing “free for all”.
“When those areas are approved (for land clearing) there is virtually no formal environmental impact assessment undertaken,” he said.
“These areas overlap with the known distribution of a range of threatened species and they’re still approved.
“Effectively there’s just no consideration of biodiversity in granting these approvals. It’s just so alarming how unregulated land clearing is in the NT. If there is demand for cleared land if a new industry emerges such as cotton, it’s just going to be, there’s the potential for just a free for all land clearing because the NT government doesn’t actually regulate land clearing.”
A spokesman for the NT Environment Department moved to debunk Professor Murphy’s comments, saying land clearing is regulated under both the Planning Act 1999 and Pastoral Land Act 1992.
Applications for clearing on unzoned and pastoral land must factor in the NT Planning Scheme Land Clearing Guidelines which, the government said, provide a suite of “environmental parameters” used to assess applications.
These include buffers to rivers, wetlands, sensitive and significant vegetation, wildlife corridors, slope, land management considerations and land suitability.
All applications are assessed for their potential impact on threatened species, sensitive and significant vegetation, riparian areas and wetlands as well as considering potential greenhouse gas emissions.
In response, CDU professor Sam Banks said the university would put together “a detailed response” to the cattlemen about their concerns.
“We won’t hide behind academic freedom to justify statements made by our researchers. Environmental management and biodiversity conservation are big issues for society and it is appropriate that researchers with expertise on those topics can make public comment,” Professor Banks said.
“Contrary to the NTCA’s letter, Professor Murphy’s statements do not criticise the NT cattle industry but rather the adequacy of the current regulatory processes in the NT (that the NT cattle industry and others follow) for assessing potential biodiversity impacts of land clearing proposals.
“This is not an anti-development perspective and it is in all of our interests, including the NTCA’s, to be able to demonstrate that we in the NT have best-practice environmental assessment underpinning the management of our landscapes and ecosystems. If the NTCA strongly believe that the current regulations are adequate, we’re happy to discuss.
“Our research findings are evidence-based and are not influenced by the source of our funding.”
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Originally published as Cattlemen call out CDU professor Brett Murphy’s land clearing comments
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