Dexta,
Also the one size fits all approach needs to be changed. The process is the same for 1 small sapling that has just grown in your back access road as it is to clear 5,000,000 hectares. That's just plain dumb!
I read through several of the environmental prosecutions (sadly most were intention contaminated fluid into other water sources), the ones related to unapproved clearing seem to fall into 2 categories.
a) Looked into process was to hard so just did the small clearing.
An example of this was a guy had a property next to Crown Land and he had cattle on his fenced property. On the Crown Land were 5 or 6 small trees that were against his fence in away that would have had the fence break and the cattle to escape onto the Crown Land. He asked council about removing them and got the 16 volumes of how to comply with requirements to get approval - he just removed the offending trees and copped a sizable fine. Now I am no expert but at a guess cows eat stuff and lots of it, regardless of it being native or not! So it stands to reason that the farmer should go into the council and say I need to remove these trees or they will break the fence and 120 cows are going to eat everything on your land, and a permit should be issued.
b) the penalty will be worth the gain.
In this case they also knew they needed a permit to clear and the process of how to get one. The problem was 18 plants that can not be removed would not allow for said development (plants would have been in middle of house plots). The entire site was cleared and $10,000 fine issued. In a rare case they were also required to plant 18 of the same type plants on any part of the development they wished. This I hardly find as a deterrent.
In the case of the Marree Man I went through the link DF supplied and I could not find a category that suited the clearing. It was not cleared for mining, fencing, roads, firebreak, or even the "other section" It has been called art and vandalism neither have a category in that detailed document.
When things are so hard and complicated to get, the desired result is often opposite by a large factor.