❓ Hon Paul Llewellyn asks about initiatives to help farmers adapt to climate change. Hon Kim Chance responds that genetic and production improvements are outpacing rainfall decline, but acknowledges concerns about rainfall distribution and ongoing industry restructuring.
AnsweredQoN 904Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
CLIMATE CHANGE - FARMING
In the light of alarming predictions of reduced grain production as a result of long-term climate change as outlined in the Department of Agriculture’s resource management technical reports of 2003, which were tabled in Parliament yesterday, what specific initiatives has the minister put in place to help at-risk farming communities adapt to the new economic realities of climate change, relocate to areas with lower risk or exit the industry? Hon KIM CHANCE
In the light of alarming predictions of reduced grain production as a result of long-term climate change as outlined in the Department of Agriculture’s resource management technical reports of 2003, which were tabled in Parliament yesterday, what specific initiatives has the minister put in place to help at-risk farming communities adapt to the new economic realities of climate change, relocate to areas with lower risk or exit the industry? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank Hon Paul Llewellyn for the question. To put this question in context, I go back to the answer that I provided yesterday. I did say that although I had had a quick look at the report, I had not been able to determine whether the grain yield figures and the projections through to 2050 based on those grain yield figures had taken account of genetic and production improvements that are adjusting to the fall-off in rainfall. On current understanding of genetic improvement and other production issues, we are as an industry increasing the rate of yield at a faster rate than the decline in rainfall. In other words, we are more than adjusting to the fall-off. A better look at the report late yesterday confirmed my suspicions that the report does not take account of genetic or other production improvements. That is a key to the part of the question that asks what specific things the government, and I as minister, are doing to adjust to the changing scenario or the risk of a changing scenario. Gradually adapting our agricultural technology to the extent that we can take account of the changes that are coming is our first priority, because it is the least disruptive of all the things that we can do. Having said that, it is not only a matter of quantum of rainfall. One of the things that concerns me most is the seasonal distributional changes of rainfall and the number of rainfall events that are likely to occur with climate change. Predictions show that there will be fewer incidences of rainfall. They will be in greater volumes and sometimes outside the growing season. That is more a concern. Some interesting things have been said about relocation, particularly in the federal arena. Changes are taking place, but they are happening slowly. The fundamental thing we must bear in mind in the short to intermediate term is that no matter how much rainfall patterns change in southern Western Australia and southern Australia generally, none of those changes will make farming in the north any more economically viable. If farming in the north were economically viable, we would be doing it now regardless of what happens in the south. Much of the north of Australia and Western Australia is not suited to broadacre unirrigated agriculture and probably never will be, regardless of climate change. There is significant potential in the north of Western Australia for large-scale irrigated agriculture. However, even then we would be limited by water availability. In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Paul Llewellyn for the question. To put this question in context, I go back to the answer that I provided yesterday. I did say that although I had had a quick look at the report, I had not been able to determine whether the grain yield figures and the projections through to 2050 based on those grain yield figures had taken account of genetic and production improvements that are adjusting to the fall-off in rainfall. On current understanding of genetic improvement and other production issues, we are as an industry increasing the rate of yield at a faster rate than the decline in rainfall. In other words, we are more than adjusting to the fall-off. A better look at the report late yesterday confirmed my suspicions that the report does not take account of genetic or other production improvements. That is a key to the part of the question that asks what specific things the government, and I as minister, are doing to adjust to the changing scenario or the risk of a changing scenario. Gradually adapting our agricultural technology to the extent that we can take account of the changes that are coming is our first priority, because it is the least disruptive of all the things that we can do. Having said that, it is not only a matter of quantum of rainfall. One of the things that concerns me most is the seasonal distributional changes of rainfall and the number of rainfall events that are likely to occur with climate change. Predictions show that there will be fewer incidences of rainfall. They will be in greater volumes and sometimes outside the growing season. That is more a concern. Some interesting things have been said about relocation, particularly in the federal arena. Changes are taking place, but they are happening slowly. The fundamental thing we must bear in mind in the short to intermediate term is that no matter how much rainfall patterns change in southern Western Australia and southern Australia generally, none of those changes will make farming in the north any more economically viable. If farming in the north were economically viable, we would be doing it now regardless of what happens in the south. Much of the north of Australia and Western Australia is not suited to broadacre unirrigated agriculture and probably never will be, regardless of climate change. There is significant potential in the north of Western Australia for large-scale irrigated agriculture. However, even then we would be limited by water availability. In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
I thank Hon Paul Llewellyn for the question. To put this question in context, I go back to the answer that I provided yesterday. I did say that although I had had a quick look at the report, I had not been able to determine whether the grain yield figures and the projections through to 2050 based on those grain yield figures had taken account of genetic and production improvements that are adjusting to the fall-off in rainfall. On current understanding of genetic improvement and other production issues, we are as an industry increasing the rate of yield at a faster rate than the decline in rainfall. In other words, we are more than adjusting to the fall-off. A better look at the report late yesterday confirmed my suspicions that the report does not take account of genetic or other production improvements. That is a key to the part of the question that asks what specific things the government, and I as minister, are doing to adjust to the changing scenario or the risk of a changing scenario. Gradually adapting our agricultural technology to the extent that we can take account of the changes that are coming is our first priority, because it is the least disruptive of all the things that we can do. Having said that, it is not only a matter of quantum of rainfall. One of the things that concerns me most is the seasonal distributional changes of rainfall and the number of rainfall events that are likely to occur with climate change. Predictions show that there will be fewer incidences of rainfall. They will be in greater volumes and sometimes outside the growing season. That is more a concern. Some interesting things have been said about relocation, particularly in the federal arena. Changes are taking place, but they are happening slowly. The fundamental thing we must bear in mind in the short to intermediate term is that no matter how much rainfall patterns change in southern Western Australia and southern Australia generally, none of those changes will make farming in the north any more economically viable. If farming in the north were economically viable, we would be doing it now regardless of what happens in the south. Much of the north of Australia and Western Australia is not suited to broadacre unirrigated agriculture and probably never will be, regardless of climate change. There is significant potential in the north of Western Australia for large-scale irrigated agriculture. However, even then we would be limited by water availability. In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Paul Llewellyn for the question. To put this question in context, I go back to the answer that I provided yesterday. I did say that although I had had a quick look at the report, I had not been able to determine whether the grain yield figures and the projections through to 2050 based on those grain yield figures had taken account of genetic and production improvements that are adjusting to the fall-off in rainfall. On current understanding of genetic improvement and other production issues, we are as an industry increasing the rate of yield at a faster rate than the decline in rainfall. In other words, we are more than adjusting to the fall-off. A better look at the report late yesterday confirmed my suspicions that the report does not take account of genetic or other production improvements. That is a key to the part of the question that asks what specific things the government, and I as minister, are doing to adjust to the changing scenario or the risk of a changing scenario. Gradually adapting our agricultural technology to the extent that we can take account of the changes that are coming is our first priority, because it is the least disruptive of all the things that we can do. Having said that, it is not only a matter of quantum of rainfall. One of the things that concerns me most is the seasonal distributional changes of rainfall and the number of rainfall events that are likely to occur with climate change. Predictions show that there will be fewer incidences of rainfall. They will be in greater volumes and sometimes outside the growing season. That is more a concern. Some interesting things have been said about relocation, particularly in the federal arena. Changes are taking place, but they are happening slowly. The fundamental thing we must bear in mind in the short to intermediate term is that no matter how much rainfall patterns change in southern Western Australia and southern Australia generally, none of those changes will make farming in the north any more economically viable. If farming in the north were economically viable, we would be doing it now regardless of what happens in the south. Much of the north of Australia and Western Australia is not suited to broadacre unirrigated agriculture and probably never will be, regardless of climate change. There is significant potential in the north of Western Australia for large-scale irrigated agriculture. However, even then we would be limited by water availability. In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
I thank Hon Paul Llewellyn for the question. To put this question in context, I go back to the answer that I provided yesterday. I did say that although I had had a quick look at the report, I had not been able to determine whether the grain yield figures and the projections through to 2050 based on those grain yield figures had taken account of genetic and production improvements that are adjusting to the fall-off in rainfall. On current understanding of genetic improvement and other production issues, we are as an industry increasing the rate of yield at a faster rate than the decline in rainfall. In other words, we are more than adjusting to the fall-off. A better look at the report late yesterday confirmed my suspicions that the report does not take account of genetic or other production improvements. That is a key to the part of the question that asks what specific things the government, and I as minister, are doing to adjust to the changing scenario or the risk of a changing scenario. Gradually adapting our agricultural technology to the extent that we can take account of the changes that are coming is our first priority, because it is the least disruptive of all the things that we can do. Having said that, it is not only a matter of quantum of rainfall. One of the things that concerns me most is the seasonal distributional changes of rainfall and the number of rainfall events that are likely to occur with climate change. Predictions show that there will be fewer incidences of rainfall. They will be in greater volumes and sometimes outside the growing season. That is more a concern. Some interesting things have been said about relocation, particularly in the federal arena. Changes are taking place, but they are happening slowly. The fundamental thing we must bear in mind in the short to intermediate term is that no matter how much rainfall patterns change in southern Western Australia and southern Australia generally, none of those changes will make farming in the north any more economically viable. If farming in the north were economically viable, we would be doing it now regardless of what happens in the south. Much of the north of Australia and Western Australia is not suited to broadacre unirrigated agriculture and probably never will be, regardless of climate change. There is significant potential in the north of Western Australia for large-scale irrigated agriculture. However, even then we would be limited by water availability. In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
In terms of exiting the industry, the exit and the controlled exit of farmers from the Western Australian industry is an ongoing matter, more so than it is in the rest of Australia and the world. In association with the Australian government, we are continually assisting farmers to exit the industry. The number of farmers engaged in agriculture is a fraction of what it was in the past decade; the number is even fewer when compared with the decade before that. It is a continual process. Western Australia probably has the most highly developed commercial restructuring of an industry on an ongoing basis in Australia. It is a process that brought great rewards for Western Australian agriculture in terms of its economic efficiency. However, it has come at a crippling price for our rural societies, because there has been a massive population loss in the once great communities in the wheatbelt and great southern. That is the price of international competitiveness and of adapting to climate change.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
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.