AGFORCE cattle president Bim Struss is confident Queensland tick zones will be simplified to either tick-free or tick area and no middle ground.
South Burnett landowners bordering the tick line have been calling for more regulation and for the Department of Agriculture to grow some teeth and prosecute those who flout the Stock Act.
They are calling for there to be the two zones, and not the current “control” zone, which does not require the same biosecurity checks as the tick-free zone.
AgForce chairs the cattle tick management committee that gives advice to the government and has been working on the tick issue.
Mr Struss said the Biosecurity Act of 2104, which should come into effect next year, would look at getting rid of the control zone, “so that should help”.
“We will never be able to satisfy all parties with tick line, but there will be consultation,” he said.
Once the new line was sorted and the schedule for the requirement for legislation, Mr Struss said he thought there would be actions by government to ensure people complied with the regulations.
“We need to maintain the integrity of a tick-line and we advocate that government does step up and help industry maintain the line," he said.
“This new line – it must be maintained as economically as possible, and the tick-free line therefore needs to be located in an area that is most practicable, sustainable and defendable.
“What we need to do is start to really understand the natural features we can use and the man-made features – ranges where cattle can’t traverse and double-fenced bitumen.”
Mr Struss said the government was getting fairly close to pinning down the Biosecurity Act.
“Let us not deny that Bill Byrne is really trying to assist government to make the right decisions to get the tick line sorted out.”
