Plantation Management – Regulation and Planning
Queensland
Legislation
Queensland legislation in practice
The plantation component of the Queensland Forest Practices System (see Section 2 below) is intended to be the vehicle for plantation development on private land.
The QFPS is still under development. A consistent state-wide Plantation Code of Practice, endorsed under the EPA 1994, is aimed at ensuring acceptance by local government of QFPS plantation standards, thereby making additional regulation unnecessary.
The Plantation Code of Practice is also still in draft stage.
State tree clearing guidelines apply to Crown lands, and native vegetation cannot be cleared for plantations. Native vegetation clearing issues are excluded from regulation under the Integrated Planning Act, however Local Councils may use Vegetation Protection Ordinances (under the Local Government Act, 1936) to prevent clearing.
With regard to rights to plant, harvest and trade plantations and their products, the Queensland Tree Tenure System amended the Land Title Act, 1994, to allow profits á prendre to be registered on land title: allowing landowners to sell an interest in the trees without having to sell the land or fell the trees.
1 Integrated Planning Act 1997
The Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) was intended to give significant harvest security for commercial timber growers in Queensland because it provides a means to secure all the necessary legislative approvals at the start of a commercial timber venture before significant financial investment is made.
Once approved as a form of development, commercial timber production activities maintain their status as harvestable timber into the future. The key harvest-security features of the IPA include:
- treating commercial timber growing as a single “seed to sawdust” activity,
- giving local authorities the power to require approval for, or place conditions on commercial timber growing activities as a material change in use of the land;
- providing the option to classify new commercial timber plantation activities as self assessable or code assessable under local government planning schemes, and
- clearly recognise and protect commercial timber production activities that were already in operation when the Act started (existing use rights).
However, since the IPA was introduced, it has become clear that the legislation is complex and not well understood by most stakeholders.
The introduction of the Queensland Forest Practices System (QFPS) codes of practice is anticipated to help clear the uncertainties and stabilise the regulatory framework.
2 Queensland Forest Practices System (QFPS -still under development)
The intent of the QFPS is to provide an integrated legislative approach to afford 'harvest security' to engender investor confidence, and at the same time, underpin environmental standards.
The lead role for developing the QFPS rests with the Timber Task Force of the Queensland Department of State Development. Other government partners in the process are the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNR&M) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Early consideration of the issues recognised that the differences between plantations and native forests required the development of separate components for each forest type, and advisory panels for each type were established.
It has been agreed that the specific objectives of the Plantation Component of the QFPS will deliver:
A consistent state-wide Plantation Code of Practice that defines baseline environmental standards for plantation practices, and is endorsed under the Environmental Protection Act 1994;
Acceptance by local government of QFPS plantation practice standards such that additional regulation of these matters by different local governments is generally unnecessary;
- A high level of harvest security from regulatory changes and interpretation at all levels of government;
- An environmental system that will enable the Australian Government to abolish their export license requirements for unprocessed timber products grown in plantations;
- Practice standards that may facilitate forest certification and labelling systems, such as the Australian Forestry Standard or Forest Stewardship Council accreditation and trading in carbon and other environmental services, should these practices be accepted in the future;
- A transparent monitoring and reporting system related to compliance and to achieve adaptive management outcomes in plantations;
- Maintenance of community and Local Government support for appropriate plantation developments; and
- Cooperative arrangements between Government and growers in relation to development and implementation of the QFPS.
Current work is concentrated on drafting and getting general acceptance of the Plantation Code of Practice.
3 Financial considerations related to plantation forestry
The Queensland Government has also implemented a number of financial measures directly aimed at overcoming some of the impediments related to plantation forestry.
These include:
- Land Tax Deduction for Primary Production -where land that is used for the planting and tending of trees in a plantation or a native forest is considered to be used for agricultural purposes if the trees are to be felled for timber, sold or the produce from the trees is to be sold. Land tax is assessed by the Office of State Revenue on the aggregate unimproved value of all freehold land owned by a person in Queensland;
- Commercial forestry operations – land valuation concession. The difference between a ‘farming land’ valuation and an ‘unimproved residential’ valuation can be significant, and have a major impact on local government rates and the amount of land tax levied on the property. The land valuation concession applies when landowners establish the commercial nature of their business, whether it be commercial forestry and/or any other primary production activities, that meet a series of financial criteria and returns on investment.
- Stamp duty. The payment of stamp duties is a cost incurred by all businesses involved in land transactions. In October 1999, the Queensland Premier announced that a full rebate for the stamp duty incurred on commercial joint venture arrangements to establish native hardwood plantations in Queensland would be made available. The rebates cover the period 9 December 1999 to 30 June 2003.
