GOLDFIELDS NULLARBOR
RANGELANDS BIOSECURITY ASSOCIATION — TRAP YARDS
959. Hon RICK MAZZA to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
I
refer to the 3 September 2020 Countryman article titled ''Yards
to trap feral camels'' in which it is reported that the Western Australian
government awarded $100 000 to the Goldfields Nullarbor Rangelands Biosecurity
Association to distribute fencing to pastoralists to install
self-mustering trap yards.
(1) What research exists to prove
trapping is a cheaper and more humane alternative to aerial shooting?
(2) What studies
on commercial viability have been conducted to support the establishment of a camel
meat industry?
Hon
DARREN WEST replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. On behalf of the Minister for Agriculture and Food,
I provide the following answer.
(1) This initiative has come from suggestions by
pastoralists who have used self-trapping yards to protect water infrastructure with good effect. This funding
provides an important opportunity to roll these fences out more broadly
across the pastoral regions to both protect strategic infrastructure and assess
the effectiveness of fencing. Trapping and aerial culling are both useful and
humane methods for controlling feral camels and complement each other. Trapping
is used to capture small numbers of animals and can help protect water infrastructure. Aerial culling is effective for
the removal of large numbers of animals on remote and difficult terrain.
However, aerial culling is expensive, costing approximately $10 000 per day for
helicopter usage and an authorised shooter. Unlike aerial shootings, trap yards
can provide longer term solutions.
(2) Quantum
Consulting Australia was recently commissioned to complete a Goldfields–Esperance
camel industry analysis, which investigated the commercial viability of, and
provided recommendations for, the establishment
of camel industry components in the Goldfields–Esperance region. The
analysis recommended the establishment of a network of self-mustering
trap yards as being critical to the establishment of a reliable, regular supply
of camels to sustain commercial operations in the Goldfields–Esperance
region. The analysis explored the feasibility of camel industry-related
components, such as pet meat, camel dairies, meat meal and human consumption,
and concluded that a viable industry could be established in the region. There
are already a number of established, commercially viable camel-related
businesses around Australia, including camel dairies and export-licensed
abattoirs. The analysis was commissioned by the Goldfields–Esperance
Development Commission and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development in partnership with the Goldfields Voluntary Regional Organisation
of Councils and the Goldfields Nullarbor Rangelands Biosecurity Association.
Forty pastoral, government and camel industry stakeholders met in Kalgoorlie
last week to workshop the findings of the analysis and advance next steps with
the Goldfields–Esperance Development Commission.