Christina Chin

The Star

Publication Date : 03-08-2014

Rampant land clearing for development and farming near buffer zones is putting a strain on Malaysias water catchment areas and preventing our dams from filling up despite sporadic rain and cloud seeding efforts.

Forestry and environment experts here have cautioned that unless water catchment areas are gazetted and protected, water basins are in danger of rapidly drying up.

Peninsular Malaysia forestry department director-general Dr Abdul Rahman Abdul Rahim said forests function like sponges to absorb water but the ground could not retain water if there are disturbances to the hydrological cycle caused by development and farming activities in surrounding areas.

The existing minimum 10m buffer zone surrounding water catchments is insufficient.

Buffer zones should vary according to the size of the forests and water bodies, he said, adding that de-gazetting of non-permanent forest reserves came under the state and local authorities jurisdiction.

There are one million hectares of forests under state control which can be developed. As a technical department, we can only advise the state authorities not to (approve development plans) but the final decision is theirs, he explained.

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Catchments in Malaysia not retaining water

The simmering tensions over land clearing have reached a fatal boiling point in northern NSW.

Elderly farmer Ian Robert Turnbull has been accused of the shooting death of environmental inspector Glen Turner on a property north of Moree, in Croppa Creek, on Tuesday afternoon.

Tamworth-based Mr Turner, a father of two, visited the 79-year-old Turnbull over alleged vegetation clearing.

Police arrived to find the body of the 51-year-old senior compliance officer about 5.40pm (AEST) and Turnbull was arrested five hours later at a nearby property and charged with murder.

Turnbull had past run-ins with the environment department over land clearing, including a case that reached the Land and Environment Court involving the alleged clearing of more than 3000 trees.

Moree Shire Plains mayor Katrina Humphries said the community had been embroiled in tensions over environmental issues ranging from coal seam gas to land clearing.

"I am not saying it flippantly and I mean it, I am not surprised this has happened," she told AAP.

"Because I know people have been pushed and pushed and pushed.

"This is their life and this is their livelihood."

Ecologist Phil Spark, who has worked in the Croppa Creek community, says some land holders knew they couldn't afford to lose another tree on the sparse landscape.

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Land clearing linked to NSW farm killing

The family of an elderly farmer accused of murdering an environment officer says their father crumbled after a long-running dispute over land clearing.

Ian Robert Turnbull is accused of shooting Environment and Heritage Office inspector Glen Turner north of Moree, in northern NSW, on Tuesday.

Mr Turner, 51, was carrying out land clearing inspection duties at rural Croppa Creek when he was allegedly shot dead.

Turnbull, 79, had been locked in an ongoing dispute with the environment office over clearing of vegetation on properties in the area.

His family told News Corp that Turnbull was pushed beyond what he thought he was ever capable of.

"What happened I don't know, I was not in his mind," a family member said.

The Turnbulls said the contentious issue of land clearing - regulated by the controversial Native Vegetation Act - had become all-consuming.

Turnbull was not a "hermit who lived away in a cave" but an active community member who volunteered and helped build old people's homes, the family said.

"He has held this all in, he has crumbled, he has tried to carry this all to himself," the Turnbulls said.

The Turnbull family sent their condolences to Glen Turner's family.

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Land clearing 'all consuming' for farmer

AAP NSW Premier Mike Baird has called for calm following the shooting death of an environment officer.

NSW Premier Mike Baird has called for cool heads to prevail after the shooting death of an environment officer sparked fresh debate over land clearing laws.

Farmer Ian Robert Turnbull, 79, is accused of killing environment officer Glen Turner in northern NSW on Tuesday.

Mr Turner, 51, was carrying out duties related to land clearing north of Moree at Croppa Creek when he was allegedly murdered.

NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner has criticised land clearing rules since the death.

But Mr Baird says that's the wrong attitude.

"The events we saw are tragic and when you see something like this emotions bubble to the top and commentary will follow," he told reporters in Ashcroft in Sydney's southwest on Friday.

"Supporting this family and completing the criminal case, that's the priority.

"The onus is on everyone to have a cool head."

Turnbull was charged with murder and refused bail on Wednesday. The case was adjourned to August 5.

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Baird urges cool heads over land clearing

Facebook The site of alleged illegal land clearing at Croppa Creek, NSW.

The volatile issue of land clearing has emerged after the shooting death of a government environment officer in northern NSW.

Police found the body of a 51-year-old NSW Environment and Heritage Office worker at a property north of Moree on Tuesday afternoon.

The Tamworth-based worker, named by The Moree Champion as Glendon Turner, was reportedly at the property to serve a notice in relation to the clearing of vegetation.

Ian Turnbull, 79, a long-standing farmer in the area, has been charged with murder and faced Moree local court on Wednesday.

Glendon Turner died after he was allegedly hit in the back with a bullet, after several shots were fired.

Moree Plains Shire mayor Katrina Humphries says environmental issues including land clearing and coal seam gas exploration have been a source of frustration in the rural community.

"Because I know people have been pushed and pushed and pushed. This is their life and this is their livelihood."

Northern NSW ecologist Phil Spark said the farmer had cleared about 100 hectares of land.

"... and a lot of that is koala habitat so that has been a real conflict between conservation and this farmer having the right to clear his land," he told ABC Radio.

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'They've been pushed and pushed': Mayor not surprised by shooting

ABC NSW environment officer Glen Turner was fatally shot on Tuesday.

A farmer whose property had been at the centre of an illegal land-clearing dispute has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting dead an environment officer.

Ian Robert Turnbull, 79, is accused of killing 51-year-old NSW Environment Department compliance and regulation officer Glen Turner at Croppa Creek, 55 kilometres north of Moree in northern New South Wales.

On Wednesday the Moree Local Court was told Turnbull had been in a long-running dispute with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, and had a criminal history.

Illegal land-clearing on Turnbull's property was the subject of a case in the NSW Land and Environment Court this year.

The victim, a father of two from Tamworth, had been in charge of some of Turnbull's matters before the court.

Mr Turner had been serving a notice on a property near Talga Lane over the illegal clearing of land when Turnbull fired a number of shots towards him, with one hitting him in the back, the court was told.

Turnbull was denied bail after the prosecution requested it be refused due to the seriousness of the charge.

He will be back in court on August 5.

Police and ambulance paramedics were called to the property about 5:40pm yesterday, police said in a statement.

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Man, 79, charged with murdering environment officer after alleged shooting at Moree, NSW

A highly-experienced environment officer shot dead while inspecting a contentious land clearing area in northern NSW had followed procedures, his boss says.

In light of the alleged murder of Glen Turner north of Moree on Tuesday, operations in the rural area have been suspended while the NSW Environment and Heritage Office grapples with the tragedy.

Mr Turner, a 51-year-old married father of two, was at Croppa Creek over a land clearing issue when farmer Ian Turnbull allegedly shot him dead.

Turnbull, 79, was arrested hours later at a nearby property.

The death comes on the back of simmering tensions in rural areas over land issues, including native vegetation clearing laws and coal seam gas concerns.

Mr Turner, a widely-respected compliance officer, leaves behind his two children Alexandra, 10, Jack, 9, and wife Alison.

"His passing comes at a time when his dreams of the farm and family, which he had planned and lovingly built together with Alison, were coming to fruition," his family said in a statement.

Environment Minister Rob Stokes and office head Terry Bailey met with Mr Turner's colleagues and grieving family in his hometown of Tamworth on Thursday.

"I have no doubt the policies and procedures in place were followed that evening," he told reporters.

But he confirmed procedures would be reviewed.

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Operation suspended after Moree death

Police block off the road at Talga Lane on the Newell Highway at Croppa Creek after Tuesday's fatal shooting. Photo: Cady Anderson, Moree Champion

It was a storm that had been brewing for years, and many feared it would one day end in violence.

Tragically for Glen Turner, that day came on Tuesday when tensions over illegal vegetation clearing in north-west NSW allegedly came to a devastating head.

The 51 year-old Environment and Heritage compliance officer, a loving father-of-two from Tamworth, was allegedly shot in the back as he served a notice on 79 year-old farmer Ian Turnbull for illegally clearing vegetation on his Croppa Creek property, 55 kilometres north of Moree.

Glendon Turner was shot dead on a property near Moree. Photo: Supplied

Mr Turner and a colleague arrived around 5.40pm. They informed Mr Turnbull there would be a formal inspection the next day but, as they left the property, Mr Turnbull allegedly fired his rifle several times, one shot hitting Mr Turner in the back.

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Mr Turnbull was arrested five hours later after a stand-off on a neighbouring family property. He appeared emotional when he was refused bail in Moree Local Court on Wednesday, charged with murder.

In 2010, talkback host Alan Jones made an ominous prediction regarding the growing stoush between NSW farmers, who were defending their right to remove vegetation on their own property, and environmentalists, who believed significant clearing was doing irreversible damage.

Croppa Creek.

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Tragic end to disputes over illegal land clearing

State Labor's Luke Foley has launched a stinging attack on the Nationals. Photo: Dean Osland

NSW Labor environment spokesman Luke Foley has branded senior Nationals, including Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner and federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, "deranged" over their response to the killing of a government employee by a farmer involved in a land-clearing dispute.

Mr Foley said the comments sought to "justify" or "explain away" the alleged shooting murder of environment compliance officer Glen Turner on Tuesday and were of "the same mindset that led to right-wing American extremists committing the Oklahoma bombing".

"For politicians as senior as the Deputy Premier of the state and the federal Agriculture Ministerto endorse rage against land-clearing laws is a betrayal of their offices," Mr Foley said.

"Are some of Australia's conservatives now so angry and deranged that they can explain way or 'understand' armed attacks on government employees?

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"Murder should be condemned in all circumstances," Mr Foley said.

"Surely all mainstream politicians in Australia should unequivocally condemn taking up arms against one's government."

NSW Coffs Harbour MP Andrew Fraser, also a member of the Nationals, was quoted on Friday as describing the alleged murder of Mr Turner by farmer Ian Turnbull at Croppa Creek, north of Moree, as "a tragic event that I think has been brought about by bad legislation".

Mr Stoner, who is leader of the NSW Nationals, was quoted in the same newspaper article as stating that NSW land clearing laws "have been a sore point in farming communities since they were introduced by a Labor-Greens alliance in 2003".

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'Deranged ... betrayal of his office'

Aug. 1, 2014, 4 a.m.

MEMBER for New England Barnaby Joyce has called for the state government to repeal the legislation at the centre of a long-running land clearing dispute that took a deadly twist this week.

MEMBER for New England Barnaby Joyce has called for the state government to repeal the legislation at thecentre of a long-running land clearing dispute that took a deadly twist this week.

Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce

Tamworth man Glen Turner, 51, a compliance officer with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, was carrying out his duties at a Croppa Creek property on Tuesday night when he was fatally shot.

Croppa Creek resident Ian Robert Turnbull, 79, has been charged with murder.

Mr Joyce, also the federal Minister for Agriculture, said he could understand why, in the wake of Tuesdays tragedy, many had questioned the part played by controversial native vegetation laws, which have been described by the NSW Farmers Association as one of the biggest impediments to sustainable food and fibre production in NSW.

They couldnt be used though to condone an act of violence.

Of course, nothing is a reason, ever, for shooting a man with a wife and kids. You can never make excuses for something like this, no matter what, Mr Joyce said.

(These officers) werent the architects of this law, the government was. This man was just doing his job.

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Joyce calls for repeal of land clearing legislation