September 25, 2019
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington says Agriculture Minister Mark Furner is so out of touch with farmers and graziers that he has welcomed an increase in cattle tick infestations in areas that are supposed to be tick-free.
On Tuesday, Mr Furner said that after three years of operation, Queensland’s cattle tick line was proving to be a robust line of defence against cattle ticks and “with the exception of occasional detections of cattle tick along the edge of the free zone”, livestock owners could rely on the tick line doing its job.
But Mrs Frecklington said the number of detections in the cattle tick free zone in 2019 was on track to be the worst in years.
“Landholders and property managers in the South Burnett and northern Toowoomba region have been contacting my office for some time now to voice their concerns about the policing and resources available to manage the tick line,” she said.
“There have been significant delays in getting the review of the cattle tick line underway, and still there is no report available. For producers in our region, the way this Labor Government is handling this issue is a constant source of frustration.”
The new tick line alignment was adopted in 2016.
Mr Furner said any new infestations since then were “consistent with patterns from previous years, with the majority occurring less than 30km from the tick-infested zone”.
“This is great news. On average, 30-50 new infestations are reported each year and these are in the areas close to the tick line, particularly from Toowoomba to the South Burnett and the northern Darling Downs,” he said.
However, Mrs Frecklington said Mr Furner should “get out of Brisbane and meet farmers struggling through one of the worst droughts on record and tell them new tick infestations are ‘great news’.”
Mr Furner said the area from Toowoomba to the South Burnett and the northern Darling Downs was “very suitable” for tick survival and propagation so the number of incursions was not unexpected.
“While we are conducting investigations into a number of matters, to date there has been no need for fines or prosecutions in relation to the current cattle tick line,” he said.
Mr Furner said tickline operations and alignment had been under assessment by a Cattle Tick Line Review Working Group, with a final report due soon.
Related articles:
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- LNP Criticises Tick Line Delay
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- End ‘Tick Line Charade’: MP
- Cattle Producers Discuss Tick Issues
- Cattle Producers Call For Tick Support
- LNP Calls For Tick Line Review
- Ag Minister Ignores Tick Line Fears
- Tick Line Move Stuns Producers
- Tick Line Announcement Angers Cattle Producers
- Is Tick Line Final Or Not?
