Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. The plans of the Labor Party that I referred to last week not only go to implementing an electricity emissions trading scheme; they are also seeking to put in place a trigger in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act which would deal with tree clearing. We on this side respect property rights. We respect the fact that our farmers are some of the greatest environmental custodians in this land and they do not need an extra police force going onto their land telling them what to do on their property. We do not need a tree police in this country. We do not need a federal tree police oversighting the activities of farmers, but that is what the Labor Party plans. Indeed, when Mark Butler was interviewed on the ABC, he said: 'We will legislate to restore the restrictions that were in place before Campbell Newman's vandalism.' Well, it was not Campbell Newman; it was farmers of our country that cleared their property to develop their land, and, by implication, the Labor Party thinks they are vandals. We do not.