I would like to raise a couple of points in this discussion from the
inside. Firstly, the industry has been undergoing the process of
institutionalising for a number of years in the form of the
Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand, but at this stage
does not have any basis in legislation at this stage. Qualification
requirements to undertake EIS etc in Queensland are typically outlined
in the planning scheme of the local government area, but whether
qualifications are ever checked is another matter.
Secondly I am bound ethically to achieve the best outcome for the client
under the legislation. Personally, there are many pieces of legislation
I work under that I don't consider they are worth the paper they are
printed on. The Koala Management Plan for south-east Queensland is one
such piece of legislation. Developers can only do what is legislated,
therefore the buck stops at the legislators.
In my personal opinion the system will never work properly until there
is some form of separation between the consultants and the developers,
instead of the developer directly finding and engaging their prefered
consultant.
Lastly, more often than not, the wildnet database (qld) or the NSW atlas
etc is the only access to historical records available and in my
experience have generally found it accurate. Of all the databases I have
used the EPBC Protected Matters database is the worst and I stopped
using it for ecological assessment years ago. As already mentioned it
will turn up whales, dolphins etc kilometres from the coast. Unless I am
doing an EPBC referral I wont even bother looking at it. To go out to a
site and find a person with 20 years of records is a very rare find! I
have no hesitation in using other sources for historical records.
I could go on a lot longer about my experience in the industry but
dinner is calling!
cheers, simon muirhead
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