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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 939 asked in the Legislative Council on 5 December 2017 by Hon Laurie Graham

Parliament: 40 Session: 1


SOIL AND LAND CONSERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
      939. Hon LAURIE GRAHAM to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
Today is World Soil Day. Can the minister outline what initiative she is taking to ensure that the focus on soils is at the heart of agricultural research and development in Western Australia?
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT: The Minister for Agriculture and Food has the call.
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question. Normally, I would have tried to use a ministerial statement, but of course we saw such aggravation and agitation the last couple of times that we made ministerial statements, so I thought that, in the interests of peace and harmony on World Soil Day, I would talk to my friend Hon Laurie Graham, who represents the Agricultural Region and of course is fascinated with soils and understands that soils are incredibly important and are at the heart of our agricultural endeavour. Quite frankly, there is a big question mark about whether we have been giving them the attention that they need. I have decided that we are going to reactivate the Soil and Land Conservation Council, which is still legislated for but, unfortunately, has not met since 2003. We want to modernise its membership, so in the interim we will create a soil and land conservation advisory committee, but the long-term aim is for us to get the Soil and Land Conservation Council up and running to recognise the importance of soils and soil science in driving our agricultural productivity.