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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-28 Daily Xml
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STOCK UNDERPASSES

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:41): I wish to draw to the attention of the house what may seem a small issue in this place but is a significant issue to the dairy farmers in my electorate, and probably wider, and not only dairy farmers but livestock producers generally. It is the issue of underpasses on major roads to allow farmers to move their stock from one side to the other without having to negotiate heavy traffic conditions and go over bitumen, or whatever is in the way.

This has been going on for some years. I know that councils in my area have tried to do something about it. I have written letters to the minister since I became the member to try to get something done about it, and I know that my predecessor, the Hon. Dean Brown, did something about it, but we keep striking a brick wall.

The issue is that much of our country is undulating and farmers have gotten bigger, they have bought adjoining properties, and in many cases these properties are either side of one road, or a series of roads, and in the scheme of things moving stock is made far easier by these underpasses. There are some in existence and they work particularly well. It is not rocket science to put them in. However, what we are continually striking is a brick wall on this issue. The department keeps recommending to the minister that nothing happens, and on and on it goes.

Everybody in this place should be aware of the pressures of agriculture. We have had a run of drought years. Areas down my way do not have much feed or water, and they are getting bombarded by bureaucrats from the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. They are also being hit by other areas of bureaucracy, making life difficult for them. All in all, it just needs a bit of common sense.

As I said, it is not rocket science. You do not need committees set up. You do not need a series of inquiries. It is simple engineering. The farmers in most cases, I am sure, would be prepared to assist in getting these things put into place. You dig the tunnels under the road and allow the stock to go down through a funnel, they cross across to the other side and all is sweet, and there is no impact on traffic whatsoever.

The farming community are absolutely fed up with being belted by everybody and told that they cannot do this and they cannot do that. They have to have 1,000 different permits. They have to get licences to do this and licences to do that. It is time a bit of common sense was brought back into rural South Australia. I know my colleague the member for Stuart has been strong on a number of issues to do with this sort of thing.

The Hon. G.M. Gunn: It's going to be raised this afternoon.

Mr PENGILLY: Good. I urge the government, and more particularly I urge the Minister for Transport, to grab hold of this by the scruff of the neck and try to get something done about it. Allow a bit of common sense to come into it, allow farmers to go about their proper and lawful business with a bit of ease, not have more stringent controls put on them, and allow them to sit down and talk to me, if they wish to, and the minister and get something rolling along on this. I meet with the dairy farmers from my electorate a couple of times a year. This surfaces time and again, and when we write we get the same old responses. That, along with trying to do business in the current economic environment, is making life extremely difficult.

On top of that, while I have time, I also mention that, if it is possible, could feed be transported across that stretch of water called Backstairs Passage to supply the dairy farmers on the Fleurieu Peninsula? They do not grow grain down there. They grow a lot hay in a good year, but not much this year. They do not grow grain, but a lot of grain is grown on Kangaroo Island, as well as serious amounts of hay. Instead of bringing feed in from the West Coast, the Mallee, Victoria and the Mid North (they will still need some of that, of course), they could be bringing feed in from the island over that short stretch of water if it were not for the imposts of the freight on doing that. It would provide a great benefit to the economic capacity of South Australia, and it would be a boost to the farming sector on Kangaroo Island.

Those farmers could turn even more of their attention to providing hay and grain for the Fleurieu Peninsula. Around 100 dairy farmers operate on the Fleurieu alone. It would be a short distance. The government must look at some form of rebate to allow this to happen. Currently, wharf charges and all sorts of things make up the cost.

Time expired.

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