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.
01:59Basically, we're really encouraging landholders to seek approval through the Native Vegetation Panel.
02:04If they do that, they can undertake it.
02:06So there is, we've taken this data extremely seriously.
02:10Like if they were to apply, what's the time frame for it?
02:12One of the things I would say is that some of the farmers have just sort of refused to participate
02:16in that process.
02:17There is a pathway to allow them to do this through the Native Vegetation Panel.
02:21I really would encourage people to do that.
02:22I can't tell you how long that sits with LLS, so I'm sorry.
02:25And in terms of the work that you're doing, when might they see a result?
02:30Well, I want it to be done as quickly as possible.
02:32As I said, there are some landholders who are not participating with that.
02:35I actually wrote to them in December and encouraged them to do that.
02:38There is a pathway through that.
02:39The TWSC matter is, it probably takes a while.
02:43Like, I'm not going to pretend.
02:44But that's sort of the bigger question about how we work with the CEC.
02:48It's a very unusual situation.
02:50I appreciate that, Minister.
02:51And we work through that.
02:52But in the meantime, we have done...
02:54I appreciate it.
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