Page 5911 - Week 18 - Wednesday, 11 December 1991
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At first glance this may appear to be a particularly onerous task; but there are a limited number of rural leaseholders in the ACT, and it seems to us that it is a vitally important role. It is not the role of the Government to tell people how to manage their farms or how to look after land care or tree conservation and regeneration. What the committee foresees here is that it will be a cooperative approach whereby a farm management plan is prepared by the lessee and the Government then becomes involved in a discussion on that so that the lessee is aware of the longer-term goals so that the Government and the people of the ACT feel confident that the long-term goals of our rural areas are being looked after in an appropriate way.
I really think it is important, Mr Deputy Speaker, to emphasise that we do not see that recommendation as being invasive. The rural lessees pointed out to us that they do not have a concern about a need for farm management plans; they all have farm management plans anyway, and there is a taxation requirement as far as farm management plans go. So, we are not asking them to do anything new. What we are saying is that those farm management plans ought to include a very strong environmental flavour as well as a farm viability flavour that includes how many sheep can be run for how long and what is profitable.
The other area to which I will draw attention, Mr Deputy Speaker, is the control of land use, particularly with reference to noxious weeds, native grasses and woodlands, and feral and native animals. At page 25 the committee recommends that the Government examine the feasibility of establishing a native vegetation retention and regeneration scheme. One thing that is causing more and more concern and more and more interest in environmental circles is the notion of native vegetation, particularly native grasslands. I think we may well find in the next few years that there are many advantages to emphasising our native grasses and other vegetation over imported varieties.
It is important that the Government take action to control the growth of and eradicate, as far as possible, noxious plants and weeds where they occur on government controlled land. Evidence given to the committee suggested that, whilst the Government is insisting that rural leaseholders control the noxious weeds and feral animals on their properties, it is not doing as well as it could on government land. The committee also recommended that the Government assist in the eradication of noxious plants and weeds where they occur on leaseholds adjacent to government controlled lands, as well as encouraging the lessees.
The other important thing that we need to do is examine whether the habitat and existence of rarer marsupial animal species are being threatened by the numbers of eastern grey kangaroos in the ACT. I digress a little from the report in saying that we certainly are becoming aware of the
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