Mr LUGG - 1999-04-28
Given the current campaign against weeds and the introduction of penalties for land holders who fail to control weeds, can the minister inform the House what the current status of the herbicide subsidy scheme is?
ANSWER
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was trying to keep this a secret. There has been some concern in industry in the last few weeks with the herbicide subsidy scheme and that came around as a result of the scheme being fully expended for this financial year and the department being unable to provide those subsidies in total to many of the applicants. I can assure the people in industry that the subsidy will be honoured and those that have made application will get paid. We’re currently having a discussion paper formulated so that my department officials and industry representatives can sit down and assess the future of the herbicide subsidy scheme, which is quite apart, might I say, from the mimosa subsidy scheme which is a separate unit.
We all know the invasive nature of weeds in the Northern Territory and the economic cost and economic penalties they pose to production in the Northern Territory not only in terms of primary industries but loss of environment and the impact they have on our national parks. It’s incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we don’t encourage the spread of weeds and to do all within our power to control those weeds. With that in view I will be, later this year, introducing the new Weeds Act into this parliament. Just let me finish by assuring those in industry that the herbicide subsidy scheme remains in place and those applications for subsidies under that scheme will be honoured.
ANSWER
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was trying to keep this a secret. There has been some concern in industry in the last few weeks with the herbicide subsidy scheme and that came around as a result of the scheme being fully expended for this financial year and the department being unable to provide those subsidies in total to many of the applicants. I can assure the people in industry that the subsidy will be honoured and those that have made application will get paid. We’re currently having a discussion paper formulated so that my department officials and industry representatives can sit down and assess the future of the herbicide subsidy scheme, which is quite apart, might I say, from the mimosa subsidy scheme which is a separate unit.
We all know the invasive nature of weeds in the Northern Territory and the economic cost and economic penalties they pose to production in the Northern Territory not only in terms of primary industries but loss of environment and the impact they have on our national parks. It’s incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we don’t encourage the spread of weeds and to do all within our power to control those weeds. With that in view I will be, later this year, introducing the new Weeds Act into this parliament. Just let me finish by assuring those in industry that the herbicide subsidy scheme remains in place and those applications for subsidies under that scheme will be honoured.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016