❓ Mr Catania asks about the government's engagement with pastoralists regarding the renewal of pastoral leases. The Minister for Lands outlines the extensive consultation process and the upcoming offer of new leases, highlighting the complexity of the issue and the importance of compliance.
AnsweredQoN 904Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PASTORAL
LEASES — RENEWAL
904. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the
Minister for Lands:
I understand that in the next few days pastoralists will be
receiving from government a formal offer to renew their pastoral leases. Can
the minister please outline the engagement the government has had with
pastoralists to ensure a smooth renewal process?
LEASES — RENEWAL
904. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the
Minister for Lands:
I understand that in the next few days pastoralists will be
receiving from government a formal offer to renew their pastoral leases. Can
the minister please outline the engagement the government has had with
pastoralists to ensure a smooth renewal process?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for North West
Central for his question and of course his strong interest. In fact, I think he
was quite actively involved at one stage, along with the member for Kalgoorlie,
in ensuring we get to a good position with pastoralists so that we can ensure a
smooth transition in the rollover of pastoral leases at the end of June next
year.
This will be quite a significant
event for pastoralists in Western Australia. There are 507 pastoral leases,
covering 87 million hectares across Western Australia—about a third of
the state. On the surface, it might sound very simple—just sign a new
lease, and they can move on. But a whole range of legal, native title and
environmental issues are captured in this issue. The Department of Lands has
been working particularly hard in recent years, although it has been
progressing towards this probably for the last 15 or 20 years, with a lot of
consultation with pastoralists, and with the Pastoralists and Graziers
Association in particular, to ensure that we get to the point of having a
smooth transition.
This week, pastoralists who are
deemed to be compliant will be receiving a formal offer from government—information
packs, with the new leases in them. At this point in time, the lion's
share of pastoralists are compliant. In fact, fewer than 100 pastoralists are
not compliant with the process, and that number is dropping all the time, and
we are hoping to obviously reach the point at which there is full compliance by
the end of June next year. Pastoralists will now have the choice of two
options. I strongly advise pastoralists that they get legal advice around that.
It is something that they do not do very often, and it is really important that
they get good advice around the decision to sign one of the two leases and get
that back to government. I also advise them to get that back to us as soon as
possible, and we can then do all the check steps that we need to do on the
government side to ensure that once we reach 30 June next year, we are well and
truly in place for a smooth transition into the new lease arrangements.
I think it is important to note that
some pastoralists are still not compliant with the requirements. The Department
of Lands is working very closely with them. As I said, as time goes on, fewer
and fewer of those are noncompliant. A lot of very close work is being done,
particularly with Indigenous pastoral leases, to ensure that we get to a point
at which we can support the rollout of them.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park!
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : This is another step that the government is taking to ensure
that our pastoral industry in Western Australia is strong going forward.
Central for his question and of course his strong interest. In fact, I think he
was quite actively involved at one stage, along with the member for Kalgoorlie,
in ensuring we get to a good position with pastoralists so that we can ensure a
smooth transition in the rollover of pastoral leases at the end of June next
year.
This will be quite a significant
event for pastoralists in Western Australia. There are 507 pastoral leases,
covering 87 million hectares across Western Australia—about a third of
the state. On the surface, it might sound very simple—just sign a new
lease, and they can move on. But a whole range of legal, native title and
environmental issues are captured in this issue. The Department of Lands has
been working particularly hard in recent years, although it has been
progressing towards this probably for the last 15 or 20 years, with a lot of
consultation with pastoralists, and with the Pastoralists and Graziers
Association in particular, to ensure that we get to the point of having a
smooth transition.
This week, pastoralists who are
deemed to be compliant will be receiving a formal offer from government—information
packs, with the new leases in them. At this point in time, the lion's
share of pastoralists are compliant. In fact, fewer than 100 pastoralists are
not compliant with the process, and that number is dropping all the time, and
we are hoping to obviously reach the point at which there is full compliance by
the end of June next year. Pastoralists will now have the choice of two
options. I strongly advise pastoralists that they get legal advice around that.
It is something that they do not do very often, and it is really important that
they get good advice around the decision to sign one of the two leases and get
that back to government. I also advise them to get that back to us as soon as
possible, and we can then do all the check steps that we need to do on the
government side to ensure that once we reach 30 June next year, we are well and
truly in place for a smooth transition into the new lease arrangements.
I think it is important to note that
some pastoralists are still not compliant with the requirements. The Department
of Lands is working very closely with them. As I said, as time goes on, fewer
and fewer of those are noncompliant. A lot of very close work is being done,
particularly with Indigenous pastoral leases, to ensure that we get to a point
at which we can support the rollout of them.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park!
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : This is another step that the government is taking to ensure
that our pastoral industry in Western Australia is strong going forward.
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