Frydenberg stalls on woodlands protection after pressure from states and farmers

Decision on Tasmanian, NSW and Queensland woodlands' on hold despite advice from expert committee

" Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon

Farmers' associations, the Tasmanian deputy premier and a Tasmanian Liberal senator lobbied the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, not to grant critically endangered status to woodlands eligible for protection under Australia's national environment laws.

In 2017 the independent threatened species scientific committee, which provides scientific advice to the government about conserving threatened species, recommended two new woodlands be listed as critically endangered ecological communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.