DECLARED PEST RATE
112. Hon AARON STONEHOUSE to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I refer the minister to her public
consultation around the expansion of the declared pest rate to include
properties in the Perth hills and the south west.
(1) What
correspondence, if any, has the minister or her department received from
members of the public on this issue since the proposed expansion was first
floated?
(2) What portion of that
correspondence has argued against this new tax?
(3) What action,
if any, will the minister take to address the concerns of home owners in the
affected areas?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the
member for the question.
(1)–(2) In 2018, five recognised biosecurity groups
sought funding for the first time through the declared pest rate mechanism for
the 2018–19 financial year. These were Blackwood Biosecurity Inc,
Central Wheatbelt Biosecurity Association, Peel Harvey Biosecurity
Group, Esperance Biosecurity Association and Southern Biosecurity Group. In
relation to these five groups, more than 12 500 consultation letters were sent
to landowners during the official consultation period. The department received
265 letters in response to these consultation letters. Of the landowners who
were sent letters, a total of 1.6 per cent opposed the rate determination.
(3) Comments received from landowners by my office and
the department are used by the department and the RBGs to improve planning and address landholder
needs. The department will continue to work with RBGs to engage with
landowners on the benefits the groups and the rate provide to local communities
and landowners to reduce declared pest impacts on land productivity and
environmental outcomes. It is important that
landowners do understand that they have a legal obligation to control declared
pests on their property, and the
declared pest rate mechanism is a cost-effective way of helping satisfy that
obligation.