Mr ELFERINK - 2001-07-03
Minister, I have many pastoralists who live in my electorate, and they are often concerned with issues dealing with land rehabilitation. Can the minister advise the Chamber what your department is doing in relation to land rehabilitation?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, like myself, the member for Macdonnell comes from an area that has a great deal of pastoral property within it. Some other members in this House are the same. I can say that the Northern Territory government can hold its head up very proudly in relation to the sustainable use of our pastoral estate here in the Northern Territory. It is an estate that covers more than 50% of our jurisdiction and over 600 000 km2. Today I am going to table in this House a report called The Pastoral Land Rehabilitation in the Semi-Arid Tropics of the Northern Territory.
It is a very detailed report of all the work that has been going on in terms of rangeland management and rehabilitation over the period 1945-1996. It is a comprehensive document and it shows what the Northern Territory government is doing along with the pastoralists and the many Landcare groups and in particular in this case, the VRDCA, which is the Victoria River District Conservation Association.
We can be proud of the work that has been done, the kind of works that have been undertaken in terms of soil rehabilitation, and the types of planting and cultivation methods that have been used and developed over a long period of time to ensure that our pastoral estate is not only just good for running cattle, but at the end of the day is seen as a sustainable resource over a long period of time.
It all began back in 1992 when we came from a utilisation of the Crown Lands Act to develop the new Pastoral Lands Act that has been touted around Australia as leading-edge legislation that is based on sustainable development of the pastoral estate in terms of rangeland management.
I would like to put on the record a person who has been eminent in the way we have progressed the management of our pastoral properties, for his technical expertise, was one David Wilcox who is a well-known rangeland scientist. He retired last week. His place will be taken by another well-known local, John Childs, who is the Director of the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, to continue the position of the Pastoral Land Board in terms of its scientific and technical expertise to ensure that our pastoral properties are well known for the monitoring of the rangelands and the sustainable development of the rangelands.
The Territory can be proud, as the Territory government is proud, of the way we manage cooperatively with pastoralists and all of those agencies involved in our estate, for the development of pastoral properties in the Northern Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr PALMER (Leader of Government Business): Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, like myself, the member for Macdonnell comes from an area that has a great deal of pastoral property within it. Some other members in this House are the same. I can say that the Northern Territory government can hold its head up very proudly in relation to the sustainable use of our pastoral estate here in the Northern Territory. It is an estate that covers more than 50% of our jurisdiction and over 600 000 km2. Today I am going to table in this House a report called The Pastoral Land Rehabilitation in the Semi-Arid Tropics of the Northern Territory.
It is a very detailed report of all the work that has been going on in terms of rangeland management and rehabilitation over the period 1945-1996. It is a comprehensive document and it shows what the Northern Territory government is doing along with the pastoralists and the many Landcare groups and in particular in this case, the VRDCA, which is the Victoria River District Conservation Association.
We can be proud of the work that has been done, the kind of works that have been undertaken in terms of soil rehabilitation, and the types of planting and cultivation methods that have been used and developed over a long period of time to ensure that our pastoral estate is not only just good for running cattle, but at the end of the day is seen as a sustainable resource over a long period of time.
It all began back in 1992 when we came from a utilisation of the Crown Lands Act to develop the new Pastoral Lands Act that has been touted around Australia as leading-edge legislation that is based on sustainable development of the pastoral estate in terms of rangeland management.
I would like to put on the record a person who has been eminent in the way we have progressed the management of our pastoral properties, for his technical expertise, was one David Wilcox who is a well-known rangeland scientist. He retired last week. His place will be taken by another well-known local, John Childs, who is the Director of the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, to continue the position of the Pastoral Land Board in terms of its scientific and technical expertise to ensure that our pastoral properties are well known for the monitoring of the rangelands and the sustainable development of the rangelands.
The Territory can be proud, as the Territory government is proud, of the way we manage cooperatively with pastoralists and all of those agencies involved in our estate, for the development of pastoral properties in the Northern Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr PALMER (Leader of Government Business): Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016