❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks information on Department of Agriculture employee numbers and changes in declared plant/animal pest populations. The answer regarding pest populations highlights the difficulty and cost of comprehensive monitoring, providing examples of specific programs and species trends.
AnsweredQoN 2216Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) How many employees (FTE) were employed with the Department for Agriculture as at the last day of last month?
(2) What declared animals and plants have increased in either number or distribution as at the last day of last month?
(2) What declared animals and plants have increased in either number or distribution as at the last day of last month?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
12 June 2007
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Agriculture and Food
Response time
35 days
(2) It is not practical to determine on a monthly basis whether there has been an increase or decrease in the number or distribution of most declared plant and animal species. There is no formal monitoring system in place to measure changes in population or distribution of most established pests. The cost of implementing such a system would be prohibitive except on a very limited scale and would most likely monitor seasonal influences as much as the effect of any control programs. Some species are monitored through dedicated programs such as the Skeleton Weed Eradication Program which costs the State Government and Western Australian grain growers approximately $4 million in 2006/07. Annual skeleton weed monitoring indicates that the range of the weed is increasing while the actual area of infestation is slowly decreasing. Other pest species populations will be behaving in different ways depending on their current and potential distribution, levels of control being applied and environmental conditions. For some other species which are under coordinated control programs there is clear evidence of lower numbers in areas where control is being exercised; however numbers in other areas may be increasing or decreasing. In the case of European starlings, where eradication is the aim of the program, the population is observed to be declining in the face of intense systematic control operations which have resulted in the removal of over 600 birds since July 2006. Current estimates are that approximately 600 starlings remain in the State.
Some species are monitored through dedicated programs such as the Skeleton Weed Eradication Program which costs the State Government and Western Australian grain growers approximately $4 million in 2006/07. Annual skeleton weed monitoring indicates that the range of the weed is increasing while the actual area of infestation is slowly decreasing. Other pest species populations will be behaving in different ways depending on their current and potential distribution, levels of control being applied and environmental conditions. For some other species which are under coordinated control programs there is clear evidence of lower numbers in areas where control is being exercised; however numbers in other areas may be increasing or decreasing. In the case of European starlings, where eradication is the aim of the program, the population is observed to be declining in the face of intense systematic control operations which have resulted in the removal of over 600 birds since July 2006. Current estimates are that approximately 600 starlings remain in the State.
For some other species which are under coordinated control programs there is clear evidence of lower numbers in areas where control is being exercised; however numbers in other areas may be increasing or decreasing. In the case of European starlings, where eradication is the aim of the program, the population is observed to be declining in the face of intense systematic control operations which have resulted in the removal of over 600 birds since July 2006. Current estimates are that approximately 600 starlings remain in the State.
Some species are monitored through dedicated programs such as the Skeleton Weed Eradication Program which costs the State Government and Western Australian grain growers approximately $4 million in 2006/07. Annual skeleton weed monitoring indicates that the range of the weed is increasing while the actual area of infestation is slowly decreasing. Other pest species populations will be behaving in different ways depending on their current and potential distribution, levels of control being applied and environmental conditions. For some other species which are under coordinated control programs there is clear evidence of lower numbers in areas where control is being exercised; however numbers in other areas may be increasing or decreasing. In the case of European starlings, where eradication is the aim of the program, the population is observed to be declining in the face of intense systematic control operations which have resulted in the removal of over 600 birds since July 2006. Current estimates are that approximately 600 starlings remain in the State.
For some other species which are under coordinated control programs there is clear evidence of lower numbers in areas where control is being exercised; however numbers in other areas may be increasing or decreasing. In the case of European starlings, where eradication is the aim of the program, the population is observed to be declining in the face of intense systematic control operations which have resulted in the removal of over 600 birds since July 2006. Current estimates are that approximately 600 starlings remain in the State.
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.