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Basically, the Liberal government at the time thought it economically unviable to protect one of the nation's richest stretches of remnant forest, instead opting to give farmers and agricultural stakeholders the opportunity to manage their land free from pesky red tape.As it stands, Queensland is again the worst state for deforestation. 275,000 hectares were torn up in the last financial year— a tripling of land clearing rates since 2010. A new Labor government has been elected, partially on their commitment to conservation, yet the new minister for natural resources, Dr Anthony Lynham, has told landholders that lax forestry laws will remain until further notice. As he announced in a media release earlier this month, "I intend to get my boots dirty to see the laws in action for myself and consult broadly. I want to see what works well before I consider any options." Unfortunately he declined our request to comment further.Someone who would talk to VICE is Environmental Science Professor Bill Lawrence from James Cook University in Cairns. Bill also attributes the combination of Tony Abbott's "very conservative federal government" with Campbell Newman's "very conservative former Queensland government" to the growing rates of forest loss. As he reiterates, "Australia has had one of the world's highest rates of forest and woodland clearing. In fact I saw a recent talk at a conference where Australia was in the top three worldwide behind Brazil and Indonesia."Professor Lawrence describes the current regime as unsustainable and "quite frankly, myopic". He describes sending ecosystems into oblivion by a thousand cuts, and his sadness at living in an era of vanishing species. Mostly though, he says that he's frustrated that Australia is "regarded as an industrial country among the world's worst forest destroyers."Despite the downers, Professor Lawrence is confident the situation will improve. "Absolutely," he says emphatically, but acknowledges that the road ahead won't be easy. He admits there will be reluctance to change as well as anger. "I'm hopeful the new Labor government will have the courage to enforce policies that have allowed deforestation rates to fall", he says.Follow David on TwitterQueensland tore up 275,000 hectares of forest in the last financial year—a tripling of rates since 2010.