The EPBC reforms have now passed, but the rules that will determine how they operate on the ground are still unwritten.
AgForce is calling for Minister Watt to work directly with Queensland agriculture to ensure the State-Commonwealth bilateral agreements provide clear, practical and regionally informed settings that reflect Queensland's landscapes and production systems.
AgForce General President Shane McCarthy, appearing with Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development Tony Perrett, said the implementation phase will determine how the reforms function in reality.
"What happens in the implementation phase will decide whether these laws support environmental outcomes or unintentionally restrict the routine land management that keeps Queensland landscapes healthy, productive and safe," Mr McCarthy said.
He said Queensland's extraordinary diversity must be central to the bilaterals.
"Queensland is not one landscape - it's dozens of bioregions with completely different soils, ecosystems and regrowth behaviour," he said. "What works in southern Queensland doesn't work in the north. What works in Victoria doesn't work here at all. National rules must recognise regional science if they are to work on the ground."
Mr McCarthy said the 15-year rule and narrowing of continuing use must be interpreted through how Queensland country actually behaves.
"Regrowth here doesn't follow fixed timelines - it responds to rainfall, seasons and landscape type," he said. "In many bioregions vegetation can return extremely quickly, and producers must be able to manage that safely and responsibly."
"We are already some of the most regulated farmers in the world," he said. "To clear even one tree requires a huge process."
He also highlighted the need for accuracy in how vegetation change is understood.
"Much of what gets reported nationally as 'deforestation' is the result of intense bushfires across unmanaged or overgrown landscapes," he said. "Only a very small portion relates to agriculture, and much of that is managing regrowth or encroachment to improve biodiversity and reduce fire risk.
Mr McCarthy said practical implementation now requires producers at the table.
"AgForce is ready to work with Minister Watt to ensure the bilaterals recognise Queensland's bioregions, protect long-standing land-use rights and support both biodiversity and food production."
In North Queensland, cane grower and AgForce Cane Board Director Ricky Mio, appearing alongside Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last, said the speed and opacity of the reforms had left producers "completely in the dark" about what now applies on their own properties.
"Right now, farmers are in limbo," Mr Mio said. "The law has passed, but nobody can tell us what we're allowed to do tomorrow."
"We don't know what triggers a breach, what needs approval, or how long a decision would take. That uncertainty is terrifying for producers."
He said families are already carrying rising electricity prices, taxation pressure and higher input costs, and the new regulatory burden comes at the worst possible time.
"We keep being promised less red tape, but this is more red tape than we've ever seen," he said. "Farmers can't absorb more costs, and when our costs go up, everyone's costs go up. Food will get dearer. That's the reality."
Mr Mio also spoke to the new rules have been pushed through at a time when farm businesses are already under strain.
"It doesn't matter where you're from - everyone is feeling the pinch, and adding more layers of cost and uncertainty just chokes the people who feed this nation."
"We just want to get this right, put industry in the room. Talk to the people who actually work the land. Before the ink dries, let's revisit this and make it workable."
AgForce is calling for immediate engagement with Minister Watt to ensure the bilateral agreements provide clarity, protect Queensland's PMAVs established vegetation framework and deliver rules that reflect real landscapes and real production systems.
