❓ Mr Tallentire questions the Minister for Lands regarding concerns that pastoralists are being penalised and leases reissued despite environmental and viability reports. The Minister denies penalising pastoralists and affirms support for diversification and sustainability in the pastoral industry.
AnsweredQoN 989Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD —
PASTORAL LEASES
989. Mr C.J. TALLENTIRE to the
Minister for Lands:
I refer to comments made by David Pollock on Australian Story last night that the WA
government is effectively ''trying to make us sign a lease that traps us
in for the same sort of problems as we have had for the last 50 years.''
I refer also to the minister's previous comments that he was committed to
rangeland reform.
(1) Why is the
government penalising pastoralists such as David Pollock for actively improving
the environment?
(2) Why is the
minister reissuing leases while ignoring Department of Agriculture and Food
reports and numerous other government reports on the biophysical viability of
these leases?
PASTORAL LEASES
989. Mr C.J. TALLENTIRE to the
Minister for Lands:
I refer to comments made by David Pollock on Australian Story last night that the WA
government is effectively ''trying to make us sign a lease that traps us
in for the same sort of problems as we have had for the last 50 years.''
I refer also to the minister's previous comments that he was committed to
rangeland reform.
(1) Why is the
government penalising pastoralists such as David Pollock for actively improving
the environment?
(2) Why is the
minister reissuing leases while ignoring Department of Agriculture and Food
reports and numerous other government reports on the biophysical viability of
these leases?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
When I get a question from the opposition such as this, I really struggle to
understand what its policy settings are as they apply to the pastoral areas in
Western Australia.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! I cannot hear myself think.
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
The member quite rightly knows that we have embarked upon a path to allow
opportunities for diversification in the pastoral areas of Western Australia,
both within the constraints of the current legislative framework, which was
part of the Water for Food announcement that was made with the member sitting
next to me in recent months, and at a broader level looking at pastoral
industry reform to allow alternative options to be brought to the pastoral
areas of Western Australia.
I remember responding to a question
in this place when the member for Gosnells got up and asked, ''When are
you going to weed them out?'' The opposition's position on the
pastoral areas of Western Australia is to weed them out. That is the position
over there. Members opposite want to weed them out. On this side of the house
this government wants to actually do something.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Gosnells!
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : This side actually wants to do something. We are embarking
upon a legislative path to get the framework to allow diversification to come
to those areas. I know Wooleen Station very, very well, and I know Brett
Pollock, who is David's father, and I know the contribution —
Mr
C.J. Tallentire interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Gosnells, I call you to order for the first time.
Member for Girrawheen, I would suggest that you stop shouting out.
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : I know the station very well and I know the contribution that
they are making to conservation in that area. We want to provide all the
opportunities for those who have pastoral leases, not only to be able to roll
over the leases when this rollover happens in June next year on arrangements as
they have asked for similar to those they have had before. I am working through
that process. It is quite complex and I am confident of getting a good outcome.
However, in time, we want to allow for the opportunity for people such as David
Pollock on Wooleen Station to progress options such as tourism, which I think
is a venture that he is pursuing there, and he is also pursuing conservation
strategies. We are not out to penalise them at all; we are out to support the
pastoral industry in Western Australia and to do it in a sustainable way.
When I get a question from the opposition such as this, I really struggle to
understand what its policy settings are as they apply to the pastoral areas in
Western Australia.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! I cannot hear myself think.
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
The member quite rightly knows that we have embarked upon a path to allow
opportunities for diversification in the pastoral areas of Western Australia,
both within the constraints of the current legislative framework, which was
part of the Water for Food announcement that was made with the member sitting
next to me in recent months, and at a broader level looking at pastoral
industry reform to allow alternative options to be brought to the pastoral
areas of Western Australia.
I remember responding to a question
in this place when the member for Gosnells got up and asked, ''When are
you going to weed them out?'' The opposition's position on the
pastoral areas of Western Australia is to weed them out. That is the position
over there. Members opposite want to weed them out. On this side of the house
this government wants to actually do something.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Gosnells!
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : This side actually wants to do something. We are embarking
upon a legislative path to get the framework to allow diversification to come
to those areas. I know Wooleen Station very, very well, and I know Brett
Pollock, who is David's father, and I know the contribution —
Mr
C.J. Tallentire interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Gosnells, I call you to order for the first time.
Member for Girrawheen, I would suggest that you stop shouting out.
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : I know the station very well and I know the contribution that
they are making to conservation in that area. We want to provide all the
opportunities for those who have pastoral leases, not only to be able to roll
over the leases when this rollover happens in June next year on arrangements as
they have asked for similar to those they have had before. I am working through
that process. It is quite complex and I am confident of getting a good outcome.
However, in time, we want to allow for the opportunity for people such as David
Pollock on Wooleen Station to progress options such as tourism, which I think
is a venture that he is pursuing there, and he is also pursuing conservation
strategies. We are not out to penalise them at all; we are out to support the
pastoral industry in Western Australia and to do it in a sustainable way.
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