I don’t think federal legislation (the EP&BC Act) would be applicable in this case as it’s not a new project, but I don’t know for sure.
I did receive a non-committal reply from Peter Ryan’s staff to my email. A few more people raising the same issue might add some weight to my incoherent ranting… 
VMRG contributed to a Victorian National Parks Association submission in support of the nomination to list ‘Fire regimes that cause biodiversity decline’ as a Key Threatening Process under the EPBC Act, in November 2010. Whether it could be brought to bear on this specific policy I don’t know.
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2011 3:14 PM
But as an epbc listed species at the very minimum a permit for ‘incidental’ impact’ would be appropriate given the nature of the action (ie, not directly or purposefully seeking to harm malleefowl).