Tree clearing at Lake Hawdon North sparks double standard claims from neighbouring farmers

A new wetland in the state’s South-East will cost taxpayers nearly $14m and destroy more than 1000 hectares of native vegetation, leaving neighbouring farmers fuming.

A prominent South East farmer has slammed the State Government for having “double standards” as bulldozers clear more than 1000 hectares of native vegetation for a new wetland near Robe.

Livestock SA board member Anthony Hurst said the clearing of native trees on Lake Hawdon North, 330 kilometres south east of Adelaide, was “ridiculous”.

Mr Hurst’s brother David was last year fined more than $10,000 for clearing 38 trees, including dryland tea trees and dropping she-oaks, from his property about 10km from Lake Hawdon.

Lake Hawdon North. Picture: Ben Taylor

“Why does one person get fined for clearing some native tea tree, but yet the government is allowed to clear hundreds of hectares,” Mr Hurst said. “The double standards in this are ridiculous.”

Mr Hurst questioned how the Department of Environment and Water was offsetting the extra carbon dioxide emissions caused by the clearing of trees from the 1100 hectare site and is angry the $13.7 million Lake Hawdon North wetlands plan is being funded from a joint federal-state Health Coorong, Healthy Basin program.

The works include building a regulator and fishway and habitat restoration and aims to provide a wetland habitat for shorebirds in the Coorong and Limestone Coast regions.

“How has the Murray-Darling Basin got anything to do with … Lake Hawdon – we’re a totally different waterway,” Mr Hurst said. “It’s a misuse of state and federal resources by pinching money out of the Murray-Darling Basin.

“And I look at what’s happening in the agriculture industry when it comes to carbon credit schemes … how are they offsetting this with the carbon credit scheme?”

South Australian farmers warn they face huge costs and crippling red tape to comply with new federal government mandatory carbon emissions reporting regulations.

Opposition primary industries spokeswoman Nicola Centofanti said she was hearing an increasing number of stories of farmers frustrated about an uneven playing field around the clearing of native vegetation.

Anthony Hurst at his farm in the South-East. Ben Clark

“While we support the clearance of native tea tree for wetland development, farmers face stricter standards for clearing unproductive land with similar vegetation.

“Even when farmers plant a greater number of trees to offset clearance, it does not appear to impact assessments. Farmers who voluntarily plant trees for environmental benefits should be allowed to clear unproductive land if it results in an overall environmental gain.”

A Department of Environment and Water spokesman said the Lake Hawdon North project had the approval of the Native Vegetation Council who had conducted rigorous environmental assessments.

“The focus of the Lake Hawdon North project is to restore the open mudflat habitat favoured by migratory waders,” he said. “Shorebird populations are in steep decline due, in part, to reduced habitat availability. The works are essential to ensure the overall health of the wetland.

“The removal of the invasive native vegetation will enable the re-establishment of diverse vegetation more appropriate for wetlands.”