NSW Shadow Minister for Natural Resources Tania Mihailuk says the state’s Rural Boundary Clearing Code should be “mandatory” and not require the approval of local councils.
It comes as the Hawkesbury City Council voted down the proposal, nine to three, which would allow residents to clear a 25-metre firebreak around their property.
“The wording of that legislation is where the problems lies,” Ms Mihailuk told Sky News host Alan Jones.
“There was a decision made by Minister Stokes to introduce to introduce a voluntary code for Sydney councils and therein lies the problem of the government’s own making because statute is always going to be better than any voluntary code.”