THE state government may be able to salvage a growing mood of grassroots pessimism in the war against wild dogs with an urgently called meeting in Longreach next week.
The meeting announcement comes in the wake of Monday’s signing off of an agreement with Canberra that will deliver an extra $5.6 million for pest animal control in drought-affected areas of Queensland for 2013-14 and 2014-15.
State Agriculture Minister John McVeigh is hopeful that the contract, signed and emailed on the day it hit his in-tray, will get funds flowing very soon, and that the Longreach meeting, which will involve AgForce, council, farmers and QDOG representatives, will be able to thrash out how best to spend that money.
“Pest animals, especially wild dogs, are wreaking havoc right across Queensland,” he said.
“This new federal money is exactly what I wanted to see when last week I called on federal colleagues to stop pointing the finger and just get on with distributing their funding that was promised back in February.”
Graziers will be hoping that compliance will be one of the matters raised, a hot topic in recent weeks as speakers at various forums have questioned the value of putting money into wild dog control programs when not all are participating.
Debate has raged over who is best placed to enforce the law to control wild dogs, and the state government has announced the development of a pilot project, supporting selected shire councils, on the best ways to achieve compliance.
Some in the debate have rejected current forms of control, saying they are failing to achieve their objectives.
Whether these methods continue to be anointed as the preferred option remains to be seen.
Another topic sure to be discussed at Longreach is that of funding check fences.
The meeting will be held in the heart of the area in which a proposal to erect 1300km of new barrier fencing has been developed, and where public consultation is about to begin.
Physical barriers are the preferred option of federal Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott, who has called upon the state government to bite the bullet and put its vermin control drought assistance into hard infrastructure.
“I have made representations to see if we can get something lasting with the money allocated, something like the fencing projects at Morven and Tambo,” he told Queensland Country Life.
“I think we could look at a dozen cells or so.”
Western shires have indicated in principle support for fencing solutions.
Scalp bounty levels, wages for state wild dog officers, support for trapping and baiting initiatives, and continuing education, could also come in for scrutiny.
In announcing the meeting next week, Mr McVeigh said the state government had already focused on easing restrictions on meat for baiting purposes, accreditation of landholders to bait their own meat, refocused QDOG and made direct investment in coordinated dog fence solutions.
“My focus is on immediate on-the-ground action to complement what the Queensland government has been doing under the Newman LNP team," he said.
“We need to achieve maximum bang for taxpayers’ dollars and we’ll be closely examining the most effective delivery mechanisms, in close consultation with producers, landholders and local communities.”
Sally Cripps
Journalist
Journalist
