Herald 20190108

Government scare-mongers about
land clearing - Agforce
AgForce has criticised
the Queensland Government
for using selective
science in an attempt to
convince the community
that its heavy-handed vegetation
management laws
are necessary.
The government has
creatively used data from
the annual State Landcover
and Trees Study report
to claim that its Vegetation
Management Act was
required to prevent land
clearing for agriculture.
AgForce general president
Georgie Somerset
said the government had
misused the report to
scare-monger about land
clearing and justify the introduction
of its confusing
and counter-productive
laws.
The laws have been
widely criticised for contributing
to the ferocity of
last month’s devastating
bushfires by not allowing
producers to manage fuel
loads on their properties or
clear adequate fire breaks.
“The government’s
heavily edited version of
the SLATS report doesn’t
mention that most clearing
is done to provide feed
to prevent livestock from
starving during drought
and to maintain land, including
controlling weeds
and invasive species that
compete with native vegetation,”
Mrs Somerset
said.
“The four-page summary
cherry-picked by the
government from the full
100-page document only
tells half the story.
“The community needs
and deserves to see the
entire report to understand
vegetation clearing. However,
the government has
refused to release it.
“For example, the
football fields of cleared
land quoted in their media
release represents
just 0.2 per cent of total
Queensland land area.
“It also doesn’t mention
that around 40 per cent of
this area has already been
cleared and is simply being
maintained.
“And it only measures
how much land has been
cleared, not how much
vegetation has grown over
the same period.
“The government’s
misuse of the report to
achieve a quick media hit
before Christmas distorts
the picture.
“The fact is that the
VMA makes it harder
for producers to prevent
and contain fires on their
properties, with subsequent
loss of livestock,
wildlife and habitat, and
for pastoralists to manage
vegetation to provide sustainable
fodder for their
animals, especially during
drought.”
Mrs Somerset said
AgForce had pushed for
the government’s newfound
commitment to
“enhancing the scope of
SLATS and vegetation
information to support
evidence-based decision-making.
“We have been arguing
for years that government
scientists should have
the resources they need
to examine how much
vegetation is growing in
Queensland not just how
much is being cleared,”
she said.
“This information has
again not been included in
the summary report.
“AgForce has always
said we are willing to engage
in a scientific, evi-
Mrs SOMERSET
Long lasting solution
dence-based approach to
vegetation management
that examines all the facts,
including how much vegetation
has regrown and
why vegetation was being
managed, not just how
much has been cleared.
“You can’t get the best
environmental and agricultural
production outcomes
when decisions are
made on flawed or incomplete
data.
“We implore the government
to let the science
tell the whole story and
work with those most affected
by these laws to
come up with a long lasting
solution.”
Volunteers raise funds for animals
attacked by dogs
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Al-Anon Family Groups have a clear message: there is a solution and there is help.
Volunteers Shaun Dodds, Nina Beardmore,
Stephanie Darling and Cody Maher.
Highfields Pioneer Village volunteers co-ordinated
a fundraiser on Sunday, December 30, to
raise final funds for the ongoing care of their miniature
pony Clementine and her friend Charlie the
Clydesdale who were viciously attacked by dogs
in November.
Volunteers hosted a sausage sizzle at the Highfields
Woolworths in Lauder Drive. “Fundraising
has been going really well, people are really happy
to help Clementine, she is looking really good and
recovering so we just want to raise enough money
for her new fence” Stephanie Darling said.
So far the Go Fund Me page has raised $25,716
of the $30,000 goal. Money is needed to cover vet
fees and erect a suitably high fence that large dogs
will not be able to jump over.
The current fence is over 100 years old, the typical
barbed wire farming fence designed to keep
cattle and horses in.
Animal carer at the Pioneer Village Carol Kleinschmidt
said horses, poultry and other rare breeds
should be free to live without fear of being attacked.
“A security fence is the only way we can protect
our furry and feathered friends from stray dogs
and foxes, she said.
In the future, only the front gate near the office
would be left open during the day for visitors and
volunteers to enter and to keep unwanted predators
out.
“A huge thank you to all the beautiful people
who have donated to the fundraising pages already,
our volunteers’ goal is so much more a reality
because of you,” Carol said.
• If you would like to help in any way please
check the webpage highfieldspioneervillage.com.
au or phone 4696 6309. - Jody Dodds.
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HIGH COUNTRY HERALD - JANUARY 8, 2019 - 13