00:00I don't want the history, Minister. I've done that over a number of estimates. I want an answer.
00:05Minister, you would be aware that my colleague Steph Cook has raised the issue of the farmers
00:11around the West Wyalong region that have been impacted by the mapping.
00:16What have you done to help resolve that and provide some certainty for those farmers that
00:20have been practising coppicing for decades?
00:23More than you guys did in 12 years. But the point that I would make is this.
00:26Minister, that is, I mean, you can be argumentative if you want.
00:28You guys did nothing. So let's be clear. I can give you the history of this.
00:33I don't want the history, Minister. I've done that over a number of estimates.
00:36I want an answer as to what it is. Don't run protection.
00:40I'm not running protection. I'm just frustrated that I can't hear an answer.
00:44Well, I'm frustrated the Minister keeps talking about history instead of providing an answer.
00:47Well, perhaps stop talking and we can hear. Sorry, Chair.
00:49She's getting the notes. She can answer it now.
00:51Member, I could have answered it beforehand if you didn't interrupt me every five seconds.
00:55The point of order is to just let the Minister answer the question.
00:58Sure.
01:00Okay. This is what you need to understand.
01:03That basically, the Mallee Broombush Ecological Community was listed in 2010.
01:08In 2010, any harvesting of the CEC required approval to clear.
01:15This was known.
01:16The previous government didn't actually take any action in relation to that for over a decade.
01:22I've got to actually say thank you to Steph Cook.
01:24She has worked incredibly hard on this matter.
01:26She's worked really closely with the landholders there.
01:30And I've had numerous meetings with her in relation to this matter.
01:34As a result of her work and talking to those farmers, there's a number of things that we're undertaking.
01:39I've requested that the Threatened Species Scientific Committee review the listing status of the Mallee Broombush.
01:45The fundamental issue here is, and I totally get where the farmers are at with this,
01:49they have been harvesting this Broombush for a long period of time.
01:53It then got brought into the CEC that then suggested that that wasn't sustainable and that was a problem.
01:59So I've got the TSSC to review that and they're starting work on that.
02:05I've also had my department, Deque, have been providing desktop map reviews and free on-ground surveys to actually work
02:13through the matters here.
02:14I am very sympathetic to the farmers in relation to this matter.
02:18They showed me the photos of what it looked like in 1970, what it looks like now.
02:23We are really trying to work through those issues.
02:25It's not straightforward.
02:26The idea that we just can open up a CEC without thinking through that is not something the government's willing
02:33to do.
02:33But what we are really willing to do is work through that.
02:36The other part of it, this is the important bit where people can actually get a pathway to get there,
02:41to be allowed to undertake this activity, is that we've, Deque and LLS,
02:48and you can ask Minister Moriarty about this too if you want,
02:50but basically we're really encouraging landholders to seek approval through the Native Vegetation Panel.
02:55If they do that, they can undertake it.
02:57So there is, we've taken this data extremely seriously.
03:00Just in relation, like if they were to apply, what's the time frame for it?
03:03Well, one of the things I would say is that some of the farmers have just sort of refused to
03:07participate in that process.
03:08There is a pathway to allow them to do this through the Native Vegetation Panel.
03:12I really would encourage people to do that.
03:13I can't tell you how long this, that sits with LLS, so I'm sorry, I can't tell you that.
03:17And in terms of the work that you're doing, when might they see a result?
03:21Well, I want it to be done as quickly as possible.
03:23As I said, there are some landholders who are not participating with that.
03:26I actually wrote to them in December and encouraged them to do that.
03:29There is a pathway through that.
03:30The TWSC matter is, it probably takes a while, like I'm not going to pretend,
03:35but that's sort of the bigger question about how we work with the CEEC within the...
03:39It's a very unusual situation.
03:41I appreciate that, Minister.
03:42And we work through that.
03:43But in the meantime, we have done...
03:45I appreciate that.
03:46We have done all of that.
03:47Like it's...
03:47I've got one last question, if that's all right.
03:49...really taken it seriously.
03:50And Steph Cook's been excellent.
03:51She has been.
03:56I've got one last question.
Comments