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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 469 asked in the Legislative Council on 31 October 2017 by Hon Robin Chapple

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

(1) Will the Minister provide a table of how much native vegetation has been cleared in Western Australia for each of the last ten years?

(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) For the South West Region of Western Australia, which is an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot for conservation priority, will the Minister provide a table of how much native vegetation has been cleared in each Local Government Authority's (LGA) area in each of the last ten years?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) For the Swan Coastal Plain portion of the Perth Metropolitan Region, will the Minister provide a table of how much native vegetation has been cleared for each of the last ten years?
(6) If no to (5), why not?
(7) What legal provisions are in place to prevent any further clearing, specifically for the LGAs, that have only 10 percent or less than 10 percent of pre-European extent of native vegetation remaining?
(8) If the answer to (7) is none, what legally binding provisions to prevent any further clearing will the Minister introduce and when?
(9) If the answer to (8) is none, why not?
(10) How is the extent of native vegetation clearing monitored?
(11) How is the extent of native vegetation clearing reported?
(12) Is a report publicly available and, if so, where may it be found?
(13) How often is native vegetation clearing monitored and reported on?
(14) If native vegetation clearing is not monitored and/or reported on, does the Minister have plans to do so and, if so, when and how?
(15) If no to (14), why not?
Answered on 6 December 2017

The government values Western Australia’s unique ecology and its extraordinary biodiversity and acknowledges the impact that clearing of native vegetation can have on the environment. Early in its term, the government recognised that there are deficiencies in the way the extent of native vegetation clearing in Western Australia is recorded, which poses a challenge for understanding the impacts of clearing and ensuring that Western Australia’s biodiversity is adequately protected. The government is working to address those deficiencies.

(1–6) At present there is no complete and consolidated record of native vegetation cleared in Western Australia in the last ten years, as clearing is regulated by several government agencies and approvals processes which do not have consistent data collection and retention arrangements.

(7–9) There are no legal provisions that specifically prevent further clearing within a local government area with less than 10 per cent of its pre-European extent of native vegetation. The impact of cumulative clearing is a relevant consideration in the assessment of proposals referred to the Environmental Protection Authority under Part IV, and the assessment of clearing permit applications under Part V Division 2, of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. Decisions regarding the acceptability of proposals to clear native vegetation are based on a range of factors. There are circumstances where clearing in these local government areas may be necessary, such as clearing for the maintenance of existing firebreaks. Therefore I do not support a restriction of this type.

(10) The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) identifies suspected unlawful clearing through reviews and analysis of remotely sensed images that identify vegetation change, such as satellite data and aerial photography, and inspection of the land.

(11-13) Information on the extent of potential clearing associated with individual clearing permit applications is published through the clearing permit system on the DWER web site and updated as clearing permit applications are received and determined. Cumulative data on the extent of clearing is not published.

(14) I have asked the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to provide me with advice on how to improve the collection and reporting of data relating to clearing of native vegetation.

(15) Not applicable.