Rural sustainability, laws and institutions My message in a bottle

1. Rural sustainability, laws and institutions My message in a bottle Professor Paul Martin Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law University of New England

2. Content Specifying the law/institutions transaction cost problem and proposed reformed architectures Proposed regulatory processes to improve rural law effectiveness and economy Transactional methods for creation of systems-focused integrated NRM strategies Highlight the fiscal gap for sustainability, its effects and some tax and low-cost transactional approaches to investment Our research • Concepts for private sector funded conservation using tax-effective instruments 2008 • Developing a Good Regulatory Practice Model for Environmental Regulations Impacting on Farmers 2007 • Sustainability Strategies (Federation Press) 2006 • Property rights and property responsibility 2002 • Fifty Million Australians: Can this be sustainable? 2002 • A Cartography for Natural Resource Law: Finding new paths to effective resource regulation 2000 and 2002 (Using Environmental Law for Effective Regulation). Purpose: a stronger institutional architecture

3. Some consequent developments • AgLaw Centre at UNE, ~ 45 Masters and Phd students, 5 staff, research focus on sustainability law and institutions. • ~ 20 reform studies e.g. weeds and biofuel risk, ‘next generation’ governance, co-regulation, water institutions, policy risk, duty of care. • Research collaboration in USA, Canada, Asia, and Europe. • Increasing policy enquiries. • Tangible impacts. Our research

4. Australia: suffering instrumental myopia? TheGoal: to shift social systems, to sustain ecological systems Many Problems: failures, complexities, frustrations and cost. Causes:fragmented inefficient institutions. Effects: results are often insufficient, frequently costly and often unfair The problems

5. Considering the emperor's wardrobe • The institutional fabric is torn and insufficient • Instruments fail, and we are surprised • Farmers feel victimised, but landscape values are declining. • We still lack • A viable fiscal model for sustaining rural landscapes • Systemic behaviour changing strategies addressing integrated ecosystems • NRM strategies that embrace social justice • Robust process for design and review The problems

6. Quo vadis? • The ‘sustainable population’ debate should trigger serious reconsideration of the institutional fundamentals • The ‘feed in’ • Farmer rights, social license and identification of regulatory and market cost and limitations • Significant sustainable resource use conflicts • The Henry review, and fiscal relationships The future

7. What will sustainability require? • Significant innovation in productive use of nature. Why? • Significant innovation in (effective) protection. Why? • Minimise the cost of/to government. Why? • Accessible rules and methods. Why? • Innovation and investment in social equity. Why? • Some “Hows” • Streamline regulation using the Corporations Code/ Trade Practices model architecture • Create a unified framework for creating, trading and supervising environmental property rights • Create a private sector sustainability funding model, with • Lower transaction costs stucture; and • A conservation supportive taxation ‘playing field’ • Incorporate social justice, risk and implementation assessment into the design of the instruments we use.

8. .. and the wisdom of many. Australian Farm Institute Chris Stone Jack Sinden Gary Stoneham Paul Toni Alice Roughley Poh Lin Tan Tony Dormer Murray Raff Jason Alexandra Robyn Bartel Tony Gleeson Marty Sammon Nick Schofield Stuart Pearson Neil Gunningham WWF Australia Miriam Verbeek Richard Price NSW Farmers Ian Hannam Donna Craig Corey Watts Alex Arbuthnot Craig Carter CRC Irrigation Futures Liverpool Plains Land Management Committee David Eyre Andrew Campbell Jim Donaldson Mick Keogh Ken Moore Mike Young Michael Lester Rice Environmental Champions Thanks