"Unless Minister Evans makes significant changes to the Government’s Native Vegetation legislation, the community will have little power to stop disastrous levels of native vegetation clearance," Australian Democrats leader, Mike Elliott, said today.

"The Government wants to give appeal rights to landowners seeking to clear native vegetation but deny rights to those seeking to protect vegetation.

"This goes against the basic even-handed nature of our legal system and creates a bias against protection of native vegetation.

"We must make available the right for experts and the community to keep governments accountable by enforcing the Act if governments neglect to do so.

"Further, appeals should go to the specialist Environment Court rather than the District Court and the community must be able to voice its concerns about our shared environment.

"Amazingly, the Government’s Bill is also likely to lead to allowing landowners to clear native vegetation in return for protection of vegetation elsewhere or revegetation on other land.

"This could open the floodgates for clearance. To suggest that revegetated areas, that may take over a hundred years to mature as a biological community, are a replacement for mature vegetation would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.

"Even if this dubious trading practice was made permissible, the State Government has not devoted sufficient funds to vegetation clearance monitoring to make it workable.

"The requirement to reinstate vegetation and quarantine land from economic use when there has been illegal clearance must be introduced as a real disincentive.

"Heavy fines are not sufficient. When the value of cleared land is greater than the fine some rogues are ‘going for it’.

"The time for talk is over. The response of Minister Evans through this legislation will test how committed to the environment he really is."