Dog Fence

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:19): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, representing the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, a question regarding the dog fence.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: I understand the government has put out a $25 million tender to upgrade approximately 1,200 kilometres of the dog fence. My question is: what consideration has the government given to promoting the circular economy by using recycled products, where feasible, to upgrade the fence?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:20): I thank the honourable member for his question and his ongoing interest in the dog fence. Particularly, we are delighted that we have been able to commit $25 million to a jointly funded project between the federal government and the state government to repair the dog fence, something that was neglected for the 16 years the Labor government was in power. They didn't see it as a priority, they didn't care, and of course we now have a large number of dogs inside the dog fence. You can't really control them unless you actually fix the dog fence, so this is a wonderful opportunity to repair what has been neglected for the best part of 20 years.

It is interesting when you see some of the dry conditions. I had the good fortune to be in the north of the state this last weekend, and there were wild dogs. We could see two dogs less than 100 metres away from the ute, but unfortunately for the station manager—fortunately for the dogs—he didn't have his rifle with him to be able to destroy them. They are an ever-present threat to our grazing industry, so it is important that we have been able to find this $25 million.

I will take the details about recycled products and posts and what have you to fix the fence, but I would add that this is about making sure the fence is as strong and as impenetrable as possible, so we would certainly want to make sure that we are using high-quality recycled products. I will bring back an answer for the honourable member.