23rd November, 2006 -- Media release

Biobanking Bill passes: State Government abandons biodiversity

The highly controversial Threatened Species Amendment (Biodiversity Banking) Bill 2006 passed through the NSW Upper House last night, signalling a new era of Government cooperation with the mining and property development lobbies, and divorce from the conservation movement.

Nature Conservation Council (NCC) Executive Officer, Cate Faehrmann said, “We are extremely disappointed that the Government has passed this legislation, at a time when our precious environment needs protecting more than ever. The flawed logic of this BioBanking Bill allows developers to pay to clear habitat that could be home to threatened species.”

"Sprawling coastal development is a key threat to native plants and animals, and this law continues to allow habitats and ecosystems to be developed that simply cannot be replaced,” said Ms Faehrmann.

National Parks Association of NSW Executive Officer, Andrew Cox said, “We are not opposed to market-based biodiversity protection mechanisms, but this scheme will not protect biodiversity. By allowing mining companies to mine areas protected under the Biobanking scheme, this Government has literally undermined and cut open the Threatened Species Conservation Act.

“The Biobanking scheme will not halt clearing for mines and urban sprawl, and has instead opened the way for developers and mining companies to simply pay to kill biodiversity,” Mr. Cox continued.

Despite efforts by the Greens to amend the Bill, with some support from the Opposition, the Bill was passed through the Upper House with very few of the Greens’ amendments being supported by the Government.

Hunter Community Environment Centre President, Paul Winn said, “It is not the environment movement that the State Government has betrayed, it is biodiversity itself. In an era of unprecedented challenges, where we face widespread species extinction, this Government has thrown its lot in with the mining and property development industries – to the detriment of the community and the life-systems we depend on.”

“This State Government is about as green as a lump of coal. Which is to say, it may have been green and alive in the past, but has now hardened and fossilised, and is dry, black and brittle,” concluded Mr. Winn.