❓ A parliamentary question regarding the timing and coordination of locust spraying in the Perenjori area. The Minister defends the timing, explaining the different spraying methods and relying on advice from the Shire President.
AnsweredQoN 907Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
LOCUSTS - SPRAYING PROGRAM
I understand the Department of Agriculture and Food is spraying for locusts in the Perenjori area today and tomorrow. As the locusts are already flying and banding, it is at least a week too late. (1) Why was the spraying for locusts not better coordinated in Perenjori? (2) Is the minister aware of the same problem occurring in any other shires? Hon KIM CHANCE
I understand the Department of Agriculture and Food is spraying for locusts in the Perenjori area today and tomorrow. As the locusts are already flying and banding, it is at least a week too late. (1) Why was the spraying for locusts not better coordinated in Perenjori? (2) Is the minister aware of the same problem occurring in any other shires? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
(1) Why was the spraying for locusts not better coordinated in Perenjori? (2) Is the minister aware of the same problem occurring in any other shires? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
(2) Is the minister aware of the same problem occurring in any other shires? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
(1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
(1) Why was the spraying for locusts not better coordinated in Perenjori? (2) Is the minister aware of the same problem occurring in any other shires? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
(2) Is the minister aware of the same problem occurring in any other shires? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
One of the reasons our standing orders provide that questions should not contain statements is to protect the questioner from saying stupid things in the question. Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
Hon Simon O’Brien : There is no safety net for ministers though, is there? Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
Hon KIM CHANCE : Exactly. As someone once said, we should never be frightened of stupid questions; it is the stupid answers we must watch out for. When a question contains a statement that may or may not be correct; it may or may not be stupid, and that is a subjective judgment. It colours the question. It is otherwise a sound question and I have no problems with it. (1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
(1)-(2) The part that I find compromises the question is the assumption that spraying is being done too late. We must first understand why and at what stage spraying with fenitrothion by air - the spraying the state government does rather than the farmers - is done. The spraying by the department is meant to actually hit the locusts as they go on the wing, not while they are on the ground. The spraying of alpha-cypermethrin on the ground means that the locusts are hit before they take to the wing. It is a different process. When spraying fenitrothion by air, the locusts are hit as they go to the wing but before they form the major swarms. It is concomitant with that that they will form small swarms. I do not know whether the statement inherent in the member’s question is accurate. However, on or about Friday last week I had a call from the President of the Shire of Perenjori, Mr Baxter, who said that he had been monitoring the situation. He had been talking to the Department of Agriculture and Food officers who were at that time in Perenjori monitoring the situation. He suggested to me that it was then approaching about the right time. That was the advice I received direct from the shire president - it was approaching the right time. On Monday, the department was due to start spraying operations. However, those operations on Monday afternoon may have been cancelled due to high winds, so I imagine the spraying would have started on Tuesday this week. The advice I had from the people on the ground - I did not speak to the department - was that that was about the right time. If a farmer left his spraying with alpha-cypermethrin until the locusts got on the wing, it would be too late and the implication in the member’s question would be dead right. However, I am not sure that his implication is right concerning the use of fenitrothion.
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Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.