An agricultural group associated with Angus Taylor’s family thanked the New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, for a $107,000 grant that was used to fund research to support lobbying efforts for the watering down of protections for endangered native grasslands. Last April Australia’s environment department ruled that Jam Land had acted illegally and ordered the company to restore 103 hectares of native grasslands, but did not order any fines. During 2017 and 2018 the energy minister, Angus Taylor, approached the then environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, to discuss the native grassland protections. At the time Bronwyn Taylor, Angus and Richard’s sister-in-law, was parliamentary secretary for southern NSW and regional communications, reporting to Barilaro. “Monaro Farm Systems (MFS) was contracted to develop grassland management guidelines to support producers managing native grasslands,” the spokesperson said of the grant.

Source: The Guardian March 02, 2021 16:30 UTC