❓ Hon Jim Chown asks the Minister for Agriculture and Food about the delay in receiving advice from the State Solicitor's Office regarding the Yandeyarra and Noonkanbah investigation into cattle deaths. The Minister acknowledges the delay and complexities, citing evidentiary problems and the outdated nature of the relevant act.
AnsweredQoN 1213Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
ANIMAL WELFARE —
CATTLE DEATHS —NOONKANBAH STATION AND YANDEYARRA RESERVE
1213. Hon JIM CHOWN to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
On 19 August, in response to my parliamentary question, the
minister stated that advice from the State Solicitor's Office on the
Yandeyarra and Noonkanbah investigation and whether charges will be laid were
due to be tabled by the minister, or given to
her, by the end of September. It is now 4 November. Has anything come from the
State Solicitor's Office; and, if so, what is it and when will
the minister make those recommendations public?
CATTLE DEATHS —NOONKANBAH STATION AND YANDEYARRA RESERVE
1213. Hon JIM CHOWN to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
On 19 August, in response to my parliamentary question, the
minister stated that advice from the State Solicitor's Office on the
Yandeyarra and Noonkanbah investigation and whether charges will be laid were
due to be tabled by the minister, or given to
her, by the end of September. It is now 4 November. Has anything come from the
State Solicitor's Office; and, if so, what is it and when will
the minister make those recommendations public?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
This matter is taking an
extraordinary amount of time. Information was fed back to the department from
the State Solicitor's Office, which then required that further work be
done by the State Solicitor. It appears that matters against other
entities are going through similar complexities. I have made it very clear that
this issue needs to be resolved one way or
another. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, in this
part of its function, has a fair degree of autonomy. The absolute
deadline for a decision is obviously December or January because there is a two-year
statute of limitation. However, there is no trying to step back from making a decision
here; it just turns out that it is a very factually complex matter. There are
evidentiary problems and, to some extent, it goes back to the fact that the act
is old-fashioned and is based on the notion of acts of cruelty, rather than
being an act that entrenches codes of conduct that one has to meet. That is
making the evidentiary problems difficult to resolve.
This matter is taking an
extraordinary amount of time. Information was fed back to the department from
the State Solicitor's Office, which then required that further work be
done by the State Solicitor. It appears that matters against other
entities are going through similar complexities. I have made it very clear that
this issue needs to be resolved one way or
another. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, in this
part of its function, has a fair degree of autonomy. The absolute
deadline for a decision is obviously December or January because there is a two-year
statute of limitation. However, there is no trying to step back from making a decision
here; it just turns out that it is a very factually complex matter. There are
evidentiary problems and, to some extent, it goes back to the fact that the act
is old-fashioned and is based on the notion of acts of cruelty, rather than
being an act that entrenches codes of conduct that one has to meet. That is
making the evidentiary problems difficult to resolve.
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