The Queensland Government has moved to give greater protection to the state's most important food growing land

The Queensland Government has moved to give greater protection to the state's most important food growing land from incompatible development such as mining, urban and other development.

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe today announced the release of a discussion paper designed to conserve and manage key food producing land for the long-term.

This discussion paper sets out a planning framework for the protection of important food growing land and invites comments from interested stakeholders to help develop the framework further.

"The proposed new framework will provide increased clarity for agricultural, mining and urban sectors regarding the government's expectations for strategic cropping land,'' Mr Hinchliffe said.

"This will reduce uncertainty for investors and support sustainable industry growth.

"The proposed framework ensures mining, urban or other development that permanently alienates the land, or reduces its productivity, cannot occur unless it is overwhelmingly in the public interest.

"If a development cannot pass this public-interest test, it will not be approved and the proponents will have to investigate alternative locations.

"Alternately, mining development proponents will need to demonstrate that they can comply with the policy by fully restoring the land back to its previous crop production capacity."

Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries, Rural and Regional Queensland Tim Mulherin said a key component of the framework would be the identification of strategic cropping land.

Mr Mulherin said the discussion paper and resulting feedback would help identify land areas with the best soil, climate, water supply (rainfall and/or irrigation) and infrastructure that supports cropping well into the future.

"Clear identification of these areas will signal to potential developers that there will be a higher set of expectations from the Queensland Government for avoiding impacts on the agricultural land resources in these areas," Mr Mulherin said.

"While Queensland has a large area of agricultural land, due to poor soils and climatic conditions, most of it is suitable only for grazing.

"Only 3.8 million hectares, or 2.2 per cent, of the state is currently used for growing crops for domestic consumption and export.

"Not only is cropping land scarce, the soils that make it productive are a finite resource that have taken millions of years to develop.

"If we allow these soils to be destroyed by urban development and open-cut mines, for example, we will effectively be reducing our capacity to grow crops into the future to support Queensland's long-term agriculture and food production."

Mr Mulherin said the protection of Queensland's cropping lands was vital to the state's economy and positions Queensland for a future when there may be increasing global concerns about food security.

"Cropping land and the industries it supports are a key component of the Queensland agriculture and agri-food system, which in 2006-07 generated $22.7 billion dollars (about12 per cent of the Gross State Product), and supported one in eight Queensland jobs," he said.

"The United Nations estimates global food production will need to increase by 50 per cent by 2030 and double by 2050 to meet demand.

"And yet the UN estimates up to 25 per cent of global food production could be lost by 2050 due to climate change, loss of agricultural land and water scarcity.

"It is therefore critical that our strategic cropping lands are safeguarded from incompatible development."

Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Trade Stephen Robertson said it was important mining and agriculture were able to co-exist.

"The resources sector generates significant economic benefits in rural and regional Queensland," Mr Robertson said.

"In order for these sectors to achieve co-existence we must have policy and planning tools in place that manage potential land use conflict and provide mutually beneficial outcomes to both sectors.

"An important part of the proposal includes examining opportunities to change the resources legislative framework, particularly the Mineral Resources Act 1989 and Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 1994 to enable consideration of strategic cropping land in the tenure assessment and grant process."

Importantly, this new framework is not just about addressing land-use competition between mining and agriculture on the Darling Downs.

The new framework represents a comprehensive, state-wide approach that will ensure Queensland's best cropping land resources are given the same consideration against all types of development that may permanently alienate the land resource.

The framework will guide future planning and development assessment by state agencies and local governments.

The new policy and planning framework will be further developed in coming months in consultation with stakeholders. Through this process the State Government will seek community input on the definition of strategic cropping land and the processes for assessing applications on this land.