❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses the potential closure of Linley Valley Pork Abattoir due to a CO2 shortage caused by a gas crisis and seeks government action to support the pig industry. The Minister outlines steps taken to mitigate the crisis and ensure gas supply.
AnsweredQoN 639Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
APACHE GAS PLANT EXPLOSION — LINLEY VALLEY PORK ABATTOIR
The ongoing gas crisis is expected to last up to five months. (1) Is the Linley Valley Pork Abattoir that is operated by the Craig Mostyn Group at risk of closure if it cannot access sufficient carbon dioxide for its processing operations? (2) As closure would literally mean the end of the pig industry in Western Australia and its total collapse, will the minister advise whether there is any opportunity to import the abattoir’s gas requirements from the eastern states? (3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE
The ongoing gas crisis is expected to last up to five months. (1) Is the Linley Valley Pork Abattoir that is operated by the Craig Mostyn Group at risk of closure if it cannot access sufficient carbon dioxide for its processing operations? (2) As closure would literally mean the end of the pig industry in Western Australia and its total collapse, will the minister advise whether there is any opportunity to import the abattoir’s gas requirements from the eastern states? (3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(1) Is the Linley Valley Pork Abattoir that is operated by the Craig Mostyn Group at risk of closure if it cannot access sufficient carbon dioxide for its processing operations? (2) As closure would literally mean the end of the pig industry in Western Australia and its total collapse, will the minister advise whether there is any opportunity to import the abattoir’s gas requirements from the eastern states? (3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(2) As closure would literally mean the end of the pig industry in Western Australia and its total collapse, will the minister advise whether there is any opportunity to import the abattoir’s gas requirements from the eastern states? (3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(1) Is the Linley Valley Pork Abattoir that is operated by the Craig Mostyn Group at risk of closure if it cannot access sufficient carbon dioxide for its processing operations? (2) As closure would literally mean the end of the pig industry in Western Australia and its total collapse, will the minister advise whether there is any opportunity to import the abattoir’s gas requirements from the eastern states? (3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(2) As closure would literally mean the end of the pig industry in Western Australia and its total collapse, will the minister advise whether there is any opportunity to import the abattoir’s gas requirements from the eastern states? (3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(3) What action is the government taking to help the pig industry survive? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
I thank Hon Bruce Donaldson for his question. The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
The government acknowledges the current gas crisis; whether that crisis will continue for five months is another question, but one hopes it will last for much less than that. (1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(1) The main thrust of the member’s question was about the risk of closure at Linley Valley Pork Abattoir primarily due to a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used in part of the slaughtering process. That was certainly a problem. At one stage it seemed as though Linley Valley had only two weeks’ supply of the gas. As a matter of interest, Linley Valley uses about two tonnes of CO2 gas a week. In fact, one person in a Holden ute could have supplied the whole of Linley’s gas needs from South Australia. I made that observation at the time to focus people’s minds on the scale of the problem, because it is immense. (2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(2) All of the other things said by Hon Bruce Donaldson about the capacity of this gas shortage to cause a complete catastrophe—indeed, the end of the Western Australian pig industry—are quite true. Unlike a beef abattoir, the flow of animals cannot be held back in a pig abattoir. The only alternative is to slaughter the pigs on the farm. Hon Bruce Donaldson asked whether the gas can be imported. Yes, it can, but I do not think it will be necessary. That spins on the last part of Hon Bruce Donaldson’s question. (3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
(3) The government has taken action in two areas. First, as a direct user, primarily at the desalination plant, the government has ceased its use of CO2—that is, the government has cut the desalination plant output back by about one-sixth and no longer uses CO2. Second, as I understand it, CO2 and a range of other industrial gases are very important to a range of industries—for example, CO2 is used as a flushing gas to clear the lines in gas refineries between changes; therefore, the manufacture of those critically important gases has been elevated to infrastructure level category one. The government believes that only a relatively small amount of gas is involved anyway; therefore, the production of those manufacturing gases is now assured. My most recent information from Linley Valley is that the abattoir now has some six weeks of gas supply. I believe that the supply to other critical gas users in the food and industrial sectors is now fairly stable, and reasonably assured. Hon Bruce Donaldson : Is our draught beer safe? Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
Hon KIM CHANCE : I believe so; although when I speculated that Coca-Cola bottlers were one of the food users of CO2, somebody raised the question about the entirely essential nature of their production. It is not for me to make judgements about the food quality! I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
I think it is okay, but I will not relax over this matter. As Hon Bruce Donaldson knows, Linley Valley slaughters some 98 per cent of the whole pig throughput in Western Australia, and it is absolutely critical, even more so than Harvey Beef is to the beef sector.
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