DECLARED PEST —
STABLE FLY — MITIGATION PROTOCOLS
986. Hon JIM CHOWN to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
I refer to the control of stable
fly, a declared pest, in specified areas under section 22 of the Biosecurity
and Agriculture Management Act 2007.
(1) Does the
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development have an officer
within the Gingin and Dandaragan shires to police compliance?
(2) How does the department police
compliance of the stable fly mitigation protocols in place?
(3) Why has the
department chosen not to act against at least two offenders reported to them by
a Gingin ranger in relation to breaches of the stable fly mitigation protocol?
Hon ALANNAH
MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1) Gingin is one
of 13 shires declared under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Stable
Fly) Management Plan 2016. The department has committed a biosecurity officer
for the 2018–19 season to work with officers from those local
governments for the purpose of compliance with the plan regarding stable fly.
The Shire of Dandaragan is not one of the 13 declared shires under the plan and
the plan does not apply to the region. The shire determined it was not in its
interest to be part of the management plan, so it is therefore not a declared
pest in that area.
(2) The
department works in a shared responsibility relationship with 13 shires.
Trained local government officers are inspectors under the plan and act on
early-stage compliance issues. The department offers support for local
inspectors through a department compliance officer and dedicated inspector.
Under these arrangements, the department also deals with stakeholder
management, reporting and regulatory issues.
(3) As the
department works with the Gingin shire on a number of cases at any given time,
the department would need further details of the alleged offence to be able to
review the relevant case files.