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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 186 asked in the Legislative Council on 14 March 2019 by Hon Jim Chown

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

ANIMAL WELFARE — CATTLE DEATHS —NOONKANBAH STATION AND YANDEYARRA RESERVE

186. Hon JIM CHOWN to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:

(1) What has been the cost to the public purse to date to manage and rectify the massive animal welfare issues on Noonkanbah station and Yandeyarra reserve?

(2) When did the management regime by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development commence on Noonkanbah station and Yandeyarra reserve?

(3) When is the DPIRD management regime expected to finish?

(4) How confident is the minister that when the management regime finishes, the owners of Noonkanbah station and Yandeyarra reserve will be able to competently manage these properties to adequate animal welfare standards?

Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:

I thank the member for the question and I can provide the following answers.

(1) The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's costs for the Noonkanbah response is approximately $100 000 and for Yandeyarra, $408 000. Costs include response, aerial surveillance and humane livestock destruction, as well as basic infrastructure upgrades to improve access for livestock water points. The state will seek recovery for costs from both entities.

(2) The department went in at Noonkanbah on 26 December 2018 and at Yandeyarra on 21 January 2019.

(3) The intervention will be completed once there is confidence that new management structures that meet animal welfare standards are in place.

(4) The member asked my opinion about whether I was confident. We certainly do not intend to remove supervision until we are confident that work has gone on. In terms of Noonkanbah, there will be an expression of interest process for investors. We are working with the group and that will be advertised by midyear. We are looking for third parties to come in and help manage those properties. We are looking at a similar process for Yandeyarra. At Yandeyarra we ran a short-term process for contract mustering. We believe that mustering of those animals can begin as early as next week.