New laws giving local councils full control of the 2.6 million hectares of the stock route network for travelling livestock in Queensland miss the mark by failing to put in place appropriate safeguards to ensure they are managed properly, AgForce says.
AgForce cattle board director Peter Hall said the stock route network had been plagued for decades by issues such as overgrazing by producers, unmanaged weed infestations, and an inadequate fee structure, which meant infrastructure such as watering points were not maintained or renewed.
“AgForce remains concerned about potential inconsistencies across councils, including whether they will allocate adequate resources, and will have to address issues such as weeds and overgrazing,” Mr Hall said.
“Most Queensland livestock producers will have used the stock route network at some time in their lives, either for travelling stock during a drought, or as a short term supply of feed in the good times.
“Effectively the Queensland government is handing over the reins of responsibility to councils at a time when we know some have little or no interest in managing an effective stock route network.”
Boulia Shire Mayor Rick Britton echoed similar remarks.
“Why would the state government want to hand over control of the stock route to local councils, if it is making money?” he said.
“The lack of infrastructure, and watering points have been run down for over 20 years.
“Councils do not have the capacity to maintain stock routes to the level they should be be maintained.
“All I see is, this as a burden on the rate payers in the Boulia Shire.”
Roma-based boss drover Bill Little has not changed his opinion of the proposed new changes.
“The stock routes should be classified primary, secondary and inactive and have no grazing permits,” Mr Little said. “The existing Land Protection Act contains just three permit types – a travel permit, an agistment or grazing permit, and an inactive permit.
Mr Little said it needed to be remembered how important the stock routes are while in drought.
“A lot of western Queenslanders benefited from the primary stock routes that were maintained for larger mobs with water facilities,” he said.
“My hope is the councils protect the primary route from harvesting of fodder, and fees for travelling stock are kept at a reasonable level.
“If Queensland follows the same direction as NSW, the stock routes will be barely usable due to neglect and lack of investment in water infrastructure.”