SKELETON WEED
647. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
For the years 2010 to 2018, will the
minister please provide —
(1) the total area of skeleton weed
detected;
(2) the total area treated;
(3) the amount of
skeleton weed levy raised and expended, including a breakdown of what the levy
was spent on; and
(4) the number of affected
landholders?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question. It has not been possible to get the information for eight
years in the time available, but I have a range of information for the member.
The member can let us know whether he believes this is satisfactory.
(1) As the same
property can be affected across multiple years, the combined total area across
the 2010–2018 period is not reflective of the spatial distribution of
the weed. The total area of paddocks known to be infested with skeleton weed
for 2017–18 is 205 562 hectares.
(2) For the same
period, the actual area infested with skeleton weed within the infested
paddocks was 3 820 hectares. This is the total area treated for eradication.
(3) For 2017–18,
the grower contribution to the levy was a rate of 22.5c per tonne for grain
producers and 11.25c per tonne for hay producers. The total program cost for
the entire 2010–2018 period was $22 543 930. The breakdown of program
expenditure is available in annual reports, and can be provided with notice.
(4) For 2017–18,
a total of 1 006 properties were known to be infested. Across the 2010–2018
period, a total of 524 new properties were added to the program and 372 were
released from the program.