EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Recovery Plan — Turnix melanogaster) Instrument 2023
(Issued under the Authority of the Minister for the Environment and Water)
Background
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) provides for the protection of the environment and conservation of biodiversity, including the protection and conservation of threatened species and ecological communities.
Legislative Authority
Part 13, Division 5, Subdivision A of the EPBC Act provides for the making or adoption, of recovery plans and threat abatement plans for listed threatened species or listed threatened ecological communities, which bind the Commonwealth and Commonwealth agencies.
Subsection 269A(3) of the EPBC Act provides that the Minister may make a written recovery plan for the purposes of the protection, conservation and management of a listed threatened species or listed threatened ecological community jointly with one or more of the States and self-governing Territories in which the species or community occurs.
Purpose of the Instrument
The purpose of this instrument is to jointly make with the State of Queensland, the National Recovery Plan for the Black-breasted Button-quail (Turnix melanogaster), a listed threatened species.
Turnix melanogaster (Black-breasted Button-quail) is listed in the Vulnerable category of the Threatened Species List under the EPBC Act. The Black-breasted Button-quail occurs in a severely fragmented landscape that is subject to historic and ongoing development pressures, habitat loss and degradation as a result of invasive weeds, inappropriate fire regimes arising from wildfire, droughts, and feral pigs. It is also threatened by predation by invasive animals such as foxes and cats.
The Recovery Plan provides for the research and management actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, the Black-breasted Button-quail in order to maximise its chances of long-term survival in nature.
Consultation
In accordance with s 277(1)(a) of the EPBC Act, the Minister was satisfied that an appropriate level of consultation was undertaken. The Recovery Plan was prepared in accordance with the processes outlined in Part 13, Division 1, Subdivision A of the EPBC Act.
Section 274 of the EPBC Act provides that the Minister must obtain and consider advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (Committee) on the content of the Recovery Plan. The Committee recommended that the Recovery Plan be made under the Act.
In accordance with section 275 of the EPBC Act, public comment was invited on the draft Recovery Plan from 5 November 2021 until 25 February 2022. A notice inviting comments on the Recovery Plan was advertised in the Gazette, The Australian newspaper and on the website of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. As required by section 276 of the Act, all comments were considered before making the Recovery Plan. The Minister consulted with the Minister of each State and self-governing Territory in which the Black-breasted Button-quail occurs, as required by paragraph 269A(5)(a) of the Act. The Queensland Minister agreed to jointly make the plan.
Due to the extensive nature of consultation on the proposed recovery plan, it was considered unnecessary to undertake additional consultation in relation to the specific instrument.
Section 270 of the EPBC Act and regulation 7.11 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 (Regulations) requires that recovery plans include certain content, such as stating the objectives of the plan and specifying the actions needed to achieve the objectives. The Recovery Plan contains the content prescribed under the EPBC Act and the Regulations.
Commencement
The National Recovery Plan for the Black-breasted Button-quail commences on the day after this recovery plan is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
This recovery plan is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
This Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared under section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. A full statement of compatibility is set out below.
Authority: Section 269A(3) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.