❓ A WA parliamentary question regarding the fairness of the Mediterranean fruit fly levy applied to horticultural growers in Carnarvon, and the Minister's response outlining planned actions and federal funding pursuits.
AnsweredQoN 1329Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD — MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY
1329. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
Growers in the horticultural areas
of Carnarvon are currently being levied to raise funds to support the
eradication of fruit fly. Growers have recently raised concerns about how the
levy is applied, after some growers had their levy increased fourfold while
others pay nothing.
(1) What is the
minister doing to ensure that the fruit fly levy system is fair and equitable
in the way it is applied to growers in the Carnarvon horticultural region?
(2) If the state government
moves to a fair and equitable system, will the minister reimburse those growers
who have had to pay the levy when it was inequitable?
(3) Has the
minister approached the federal government to source funds to contribute to the
eradication of fruit fly in Carnarvon; and, what has been the result of those
discussions?
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD — MEDITERRANEAN FRUIT FLY
1329. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
Growers in the horticultural areas
of Carnarvon are currently being levied to raise funds to support the
eradication of fruit fly. Growers have recently raised concerns about how the
levy is applied, after some growers had their levy increased fourfold while
others pay nothing.
(1) What is the
minister doing to ensure that the fruit fly levy system is fair and equitable
in the way it is applied to growers in the Carnarvon horticultural region?
(2) If the state government
moves to a fair and equitable system, will the minister reimburse those growers
who have had to pay the levy when it was inequitable?
(3) Has the
minister approached the federal government to source funds to contribute to the
eradication of fruit fly in Carnarvon; and, what has been the result of those
discussions?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(2) I
am certainly very conscious of the amount of angst in Carnarvon. On Saturday, I
was at the country race meeting with members of the FBI, the esteemed
horseracing syndicate from Carnarvon, who put forward their point of view. On
Monday, I was at Vegetables WA, and the growers there put forward their point
of view. There is no doubt that it is massively important that we get on top of
this medfly issue in Carnarvon and finish the job off. We have been doing this
over a number of years and we are in striking distance of gaining medfly-free
status, which will be of great economic benefit to growers. As with most things
in Carnarvon, there is a lot of angst and different views about how this should
be done. I have committed to going there before Christmas to have a public
meeting, get all the different points of view and see whether we can land on a system
that everyone thinks is equitable.
(3) Yes, of
course, we will be absolutely making submissions to the federal government
scheme. I hope we will get the opposition's support, if its mob is
still in there any time next year, to make sure that this time round WA does
get a reasonable share of that fund.
(1)–(2) I
am certainly very conscious of the amount of angst in Carnarvon. On Saturday, I
was at the country race meeting with members of the FBI, the esteemed
horseracing syndicate from Carnarvon, who put forward their point of view. On
Monday, I was at Vegetables WA, and the growers there put forward their point
of view. There is no doubt that it is massively important that we get on top of
this medfly issue in Carnarvon and finish the job off. We have been doing this
over a number of years and we are in striking distance of gaining medfly-free
status, which will be of great economic benefit to growers. As with most things
in Carnarvon, there is a lot of angst and different views about how this should
be done. I have committed to going there before Christmas to have a public
meeting, get all the different points of view and see whether we can land on a system
that everyone thinks is equitable.
(3) Yes, of
course, we will be absolutely making submissions to the federal government
scheme. I hope we will get the opposition's support, if its mob is
still in there any time next year, to make sure that this time round WA does
get a reasonable share of that fund.
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