Joyce calls for repeal of land clearing legislation

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