• Federal Labor’s vegetation trigger to cost jobs, economic development

• Calls for Queenslanders to reject Labor’s attack on farmers at ballot box

• Only LNP has plan to protect farmers and landholders

Federal Labor’s plan for a ‘vegetation trigger’ on economic development projects under Commonwealth legislation will cost regional Queensland jobs and growth, the LNP Opposition said today.

Shadow Natural Resources Minister Andrew Cripps said Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and shadow Environment Minister Mark Butler’s commitment to add a ‘vegetation trigger’ on economic development under the Commonwealth’s EPBC Act would be a disaster for investment and job creation in Queensland.

“The former Rudd/Gillard/Rudd Government created a ‘water trigger’ under the EPBC Act which created duplicated process for new projects in Queensland and now Bill Shorten has promised a ‘vegetation trigger’ under the same legislation,” Mr Cripps said.

“If Federal Labor is elected on Saturday, Queensland farmers and landholders won’t just have the Palaszczuk Government’s draconian vegetation management laws to contend with, they’ll have Bill Shorten threatening them as well.

“It’s proof Labor, and its mates the Greens, are moving to undermine and restrict Queensland’s agriculture sector.

”Mr Cripps said Bill Shorten’s proposed ‘vegetation trigger’ would be an unwelcome intrusion on Queensland’s powers to manage vegetation and encouraged all Queenslanders to reject Labor and the Greens at the ballot box on Saturday.

“Only the LNP in Queensland is fighting to protect the property rights and opportunities for farmers and landowners to undertake responsible and sustainable vegetation management activities,” he said.

“The threat of an unstable Labor/Green/Independent alliance in the House of Representatives is real – we saw what that did to the live cattle trade and regional Queensland can’t afford that mess again”.

Mr Cripps called on regional Queenslanders to support an LNP House of Representatives and Senate to prevent the chaos of another hung parliament and block Labor and the Greens’ plans to introduce federal vegetation management laws.