Farming solutions

It is disappointing Gary Taylor did not take time to understand Groundswell’s concerns (Upfront, December 11). Groundswell is not against regulation or the need to care for the environment. We are calling for the environmental momentum to continue and for everyone to join the journey.

We believe many of the Government’s one-size-fits-all environmental regulations are unworkable and actually worse for the environment. We define unworkable as regulations that are impractical or impossible to comply with, that do not cater for regional differences, that unfairly remove local decision-making or that fail to achieve the intended positive outcomes.

Under the indigenous biodiversity, freshwater, climate change and high-country pieces of legislation, for example, the more landowners have done to care for the environment, the more they are penalised. Many of the farmers in Groundswell have been proactive in protecting native bush and wetlands. However,