On The Land
13 December, 2025
New laws threaten land productivity
AGFORCE is extremely concerned that any deal with the Greens rushing through changes to federal environment laws before Christmas is a recipe for disaster for Australian farmers.
Amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were passed last week with little consultation to Queensland or the broader Australian agricultural industry, despite some massive implications for the way we manage our land – especially here in Queensland.
The deal as it stands would lock up productive land, constrain producers’ ability to care for their country, punish farmers participating in carbon projects, and ultimately drive up food prices for Australian families.
And all because of changes to put a 15-year time limit on continuing use regulations.
At the heart of this is this little-understood concept known as “continuing use”. For 25 years, this provision has recognised that agriculture operates in cycles — grazing, rest, pasture renovation, regrowth management, cropping rotations, fallowing and recovery.
However, the new federal environmental legislation would allow land that has been legally and sustainably managed for generations to have restrictions imposed after 15 years, regardless of rainfall, growth rates, drought cycles or landscape type.
This effectively removes a producer’s ability to continue productive use of that land.
As long as governments pit agriculture against the environment instead of treating them as partners, policy will fail. This 15-year rule removes the flexibility needed to deliver both environmental and agricultural goals.
Australians understand the reality of extreme weather, but few realise how much routine vegetation management that farmers undertake underpins safety, biodiversity and productive landscapes. We need to communicate that more effectively to people in the cities who eat our food and use our fibre if we are to turn this dire situation around.
People see the flames on the news every summer. But what they don’t see is that unmanaged land becomes fuel. If farmers can’t rotate stock or manage regrowth because Canberra sets a countdown clock, it’s not just bad policy — it’s dangerous for every community be they human or animal that lives on or near that land.
If Canberra ties farmers’ hands, the whole country will feel it at the checkout. Food doesn’t grow in a committee room — it grows on land that must be managed.
A recent report coming out of Brazil indicates Australian producers are already 45% more environmentally friendly than their peers – so we need to let Australian producers continue doing what they do best.
Good land management delivers safer, more biodiverse and more resilient landscapes. And the fine print buried in this overhaul of federal environment protection laws effectively prevents that.
As we know and understand, more than half of Australia’s land mass is agricultural. You cannot restrict land management and expect food production to remain stable. In the end someone pays — and it’s always the consumer.
AgForce’s message is clear - Australia needs strong environmental laws - but they must be scientific, practical, and regionally informed. Rushed policy is bad policy.
This Greens-backed proposal will not protect the environment — it will damage it. We are lobbying Minister Watt to make sure the day-to-day implementation of this legislation change is workable for Australian farmers.
Landholders are the ones who look after the land on a day-to-day basis not the Greens in their inner-city suburbs.
- Shane McCarthy, AgForce General President
