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Locust Plague - Bracks Government Slow On The Uptake

The Bracks Government’s slow reaction to the locust threat has resulted in plagues severly affecting thousands of hectares of farmland throughout Victoria.

By Philip Davis - 12th December 2005 - Back to News

Shadow Minister for Agriculture Philip Davis said the late decision to spray private land affected by locusts was a typical example of the Bracks Government mismanagement.

"The Bracks Government has effectively shut the gate after the horse has bolted," Mr Davis said.

"The Bracks Government has down-sized of the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to the point where there simply isn’t enough staff to handle this problem.

"There is clearly not enough infrastructure or support for farmers across Victoria and the Bracks Government has now conceded it should have been more hands-on with this locust threat.

Mr Davis said farmers in Mitiamo had not yet recovered from the drought.

"Farmers in the Mitiamo region are still battling the intensely dry conditions and now they have swarms of locusts up to a kilometre wide damaging established crops," he said.

"The locusts are also creating havoc in Swifts Creek, Wangaratta, Rochester, Yarrawonga and Camperdown.

"Attempting to control these locusts now will be a real battle.

"For any action to be effective, the DPI should have sprayed all land in the region before the locusts began to swarm.

"If this is the best Labor’s Agriculture Minister Bob Cameron and the DPI can do about plague locusts, it does not say much for Victoria’s biosecurity arrangements.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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