EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

(Issued under the Authority of the Minister for the Environment)

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth)

Instrument under section 192

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act) provides for the protection of the environment and conservation of biodiversity, including the protection and conservation of threatened species.

Section 178 of the Act provides for a list of threatened species (the List) separated into particular categories being extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable and conservation dependent.

Section 192 of the Act provides that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, amend the List if the Minister is satisfied that a native species that is listed in the extinct category has been definitely located in nature since it was last listed as extinct. The Minister may, under section 184, transfer the species from the extinct category to another category without considering advice from the Scientific Committee.

The purpose of this Instrument is to amend the List by:

• transferring Oberonia attenuata from the extinct to the critically endangered category of the Act.

Background

The transfer results from the recent rediscovery of the species from the Mossman Gorge wet tropics region north Queensland. Reports indicate that there are currently approximately 200 individuals from one location adjacent to a creek.

Consultation

Consultation is not required under the Act prior to making the instrument. Section 17(1) of the Legislation Act 2003 states that rule-makes must be satisfied that there has been undertaken any consultation that is considered by the rule-maker to be appropriate. Consultation was not considered appropriate for this instrument as the making of the instrument is to provide protection for a previously considered extinct species.

Although not required consultation was undertaken as referred to in s17(2) with experts in the field who rediscovered the species and agree with the proposed instrument.

This Instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.

The Instrument commenced on the day after it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Amendment to the list of threatened species under section 178 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (XXX)

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

The purpose of this Instrument is to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 list of threatened species by deleting 12 Queensland endemic flora species from the vulnerable category of the list.

These species have been deleted from the vulnerable category as they did not meet any criteria, because they are variously either protected in reserves, do not have limited populations, geographic distributions are not limited or precarious, or are not subject to threats, or in one case, does not meet the definition of a species under the EPBC Act as it is a hybrid.

Human rights implications

This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.

Conclusion

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.

Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities