❓ Hon. Nigel Hallett questions the Minister for Agriculture and Food about the development of a Doppler radar network in WA, particularly for the wheatbelt, and the Minister responds with updates on a business case and funding considerations.
AnsweredQoN 326Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
AGRICULTURE — DOPPLER RADAR
326. Hon NIGEL HALLETT to the
Minister for Agriculture and Food:
(1) Given that
the government is committed to increasing the availability of new technology to
Western Australian agriculture with $10 million in royalties for regions funds,
what steps is the government taking to develop a Doppler radar network—available
in all other Australian states and territories—in Western Australia?
(2) How
confident is the government that, as a matter of urgency, two Doppler radars,
part of a suggested six-Doppler radar network, will be installed in Western
Australia's wheatbelt to enable grain farmers to access high resolution
weather, soil and crop data for the start of 2015?
(3) How
certain is the government that a further four Doppler radars will be installed,
and existing radars upgraded to Doppler capability, to provide wide-ranging
radar coverage to assist with the provision of high-resolution data for fire
and emergency services, and aviation and mining purposes?
326. Hon NIGEL HALLETT to the
Minister for Agriculture and Food:
(1) Given that
the government is committed to increasing the availability of new technology to
Western Australian agriculture with $10 million in royalties for regions funds,
what steps is the government taking to develop a Doppler radar network—available
in all other Australian states and territories—in Western Australia?
(2) How
confident is the government that, as a matter of urgency, two Doppler radars,
part of a suggested six-Doppler radar network, will be installed in Western
Australia's wheatbelt to enable grain farmers to access high resolution
weather, soil and crop data for the start of 2015?
(3) How
certain is the government that a further four Doppler radars will be installed,
and existing radars upgraded to Doppler capability, to provide wide-ranging
radar coverage to assist with the provision of high-resolution data for fire
and emergency services, and aviation and mining purposes?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this
question
(1) The
Department of Agriculture and Food has engaged a consultant to develop a
business case for the installation of two Doppler radars in the wheatbelt. I
discussed the importance of Doppler radars in agricultural production with
federal minister Joyce on 1 April 2014, which was yesterday.
(2) This will
be determined by the outcome of the business case and the availability of
funding from the royalties for regions program and the federal government.
(3) The
current objective is to install two Doppler radars in the wheatbelt and
integrate them with the Department of Agriculture and Food's network of
automated weather stations and the Bureau of Meteorology radar network. A
funded implementation program will need to be in place for the initial Doppler
radars before consideration can be given to additional radars.
question
(1) The
Department of Agriculture and Food has engaged a consultant to develop a
business case for the installation of two Doppler radars in the wheatbelt. I
discussed the importance of Doppler radars in agricultural production with
federal minister Joyce on 1 April 2014, which was yesterday.
(2) This will
be determined by the outcome of the business case and the availability of
funding from the royalties for regions program and the federal government.
(3) The
current objective is to install two Doppler radars in the wheatbelt and
integrate them with the Department of Agriculture and Food's network of
automated weather stations and the Bureau of Meteorology radar network. A
funded implementation program will need to be in place for the initial Doppler
radars before consideration can be given to additional radars.
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