He never returned.

In an incident that is still playing out in the courts, Mr Turner was shot and killed by farmer Ian Turnbull, who was furious at the Office of Environment and Heritage for prosecuting him over illegal land clearing on his property.

The tragic death became a flashpoint in an already incendiary debate.

It unlocked a torrent of accusations and recriminations, with many blaming the Native Vegetation Act for pushing the farmer over the edge.

The fact a long-running feud over a contentious government policy led to the death of an innocent man is unforgiveable.

But the Native Vegetation Act was a blunt instrument and farmers had been howling for years that it would create a powderkeg situation between farmers and environment officers.

At the heart of the issue was the question of how far a farmer’s rights extended to managing his own land.

Mr Turner’s death became a circuit breaker in the debate and the Nationals vowed to repeat the Act.

This month, a draft of the new land clearing legislation finally went on public display, triggering a fresh slanging match between environmentalists and farmers.

Under the draft legislation, farmers would be given more flexibility to manage their own land, rather than being lumbered with a mountain of paperwork just to clear a single tree.

Greenies claim the new laws would lead to mass land clearing and destruction of native flora and fauna. But such logic ignores the fact farmers are frontline environmental custodians and have a larger incentive than anyone to protect the wellbeing of their land.

The new laws will strike a fairer and more workable balance between the needs of the environment and the need for farmers to produce food and fibre. Like many laws in 21^st century Australia, the Native Vegetation Act defied common sense and skewed the balance too far to the left.

It reached a farcical situation where the farmers didn’t even own the vegetation on their land. And it was the precursor to a tragedy.

The sooner the government adopts the new laws, the better.