Cattle tick line consultation extended

Published Tuesday, 12 January, 2016 at 09:09 AM

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries
The Honourable Leanne Donaldson

Agriculture Minister Leanne Donaldson has extended the public consultation period for comment on the location of the cattle tick line in Queensland by a month.

"It is very important that we give producers ample time to have their say and that is why I have listened to the industry and allocated more time for feedback,” Minister Donaldson said.

 “In particular we want to hear the views of property owners who live along the existing tick line and they, and everyone else, now have until February 29 to make themselves heard.”

Bim Struss, AgForce Cattle president, welcomed the Minister’s decision.

“This is exactly what the industry wants and in AgForce we are very appreciative that the Minister has responded so positively to our concerns,” said Mr Struss.

“I am confident through consultation and collaboration we can get the best outcome for the industry.”

Minister Donaldson said for the first time in 30 years there was an opportunity to amend the location of the tick line.

“The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has been consulting with industry representatives since last August to determine how the government can best assist producers to manage the impacts of cattle ticks which cost the sector millions of dollars every year.

“It is vitally important that we have a sustainable system in place to minimise the impact of cattle ticks.

"In addition to our cattle tick online survey, we are also attending public forums in towns along the tick line to meet face-to-face with producers to ensure we have heard from producers living along the tick line.

“To date there have been 326 submissions and plenty of face to face consultation with key stakeholders.

"The feedback we receive will inform a new cattle tick management framework for Queensland that meets the needs of our diverse and rapidly changing livestock industry."

Minister Donaldson said feedback for cattle tick line consultation can be submitted online through the online survey, or by completing a hard copy of the survey and returning to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries by post, email, fax or hand delivered to one of our regional offices.

The postal address for written submissions is the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, GPO Box 46, Brisbane 4001.

Hard copies of the survey are available by calling the department’s customer service centre on 13 25 23.

Public consultation will be open until 29 February 2016.

Information on the public consultation, including a map showing three options for the location of the tick line, is available through the cattle tick public consultation website www.qld.gov.au/cattletick or by calling 13 25 23.

 

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