Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I raise an emerging issue of concern, and an old issue that has reared its head, regarding tree plantations in Page, specifically in the Clarence Valley—the Coledale area—but also up country in Woodenbong, Old Bonalbo and Bonalbo. The old issue is aerial spraying, and I was surprised to find that Forest Enterprises Australia were doing it in our area next to landholders’ kids going to school et cetera. A pilot was fined by the state authorities for some spray drift. In this day and age we cannot have such a practice taking place close to landholders, close to kids and close to families. The only solution is to stop it.

Allan and Lyndall Reardon, farmers from Coledale near Grafton, raised it with me, as did John Edwards, Secretary of the Clarence Environment Centre. I have raised it with Timber Communities Australia and I also asked them to facilitate a solution. I also raised it with the local union, the CFMEU. I will soon undertake a site visit and I will invite Forest Enterprises Australia to be part of it.

On behalf of the people of Page, I also expressed a concern about the chemicals being used and other issues emerging—most of them from the agricultural and rural sectors. Some of the chemicals being used are Simazine and Rogor, which is a dimethoate. They have been banned in other countries such as the USA and those in the EU. Simazine is closely related to Atrazine, which has been found to chemically castrate frogs at levels of about 0.1 parts per billion in research done by Dr Tyrone Hayes. Our wonderful river, the Clarence River, is close to where the spraying is taking place and there is chemical drift into it.

The impact of monoculture and non-native species is an issue that needs to be looked at. The locals have expressed their concern about the mass transfer of land from traditional agricultural use to plantations, the seeming lack of economic return to our area, the low level of jobs for locals and the lack of community engagement.

Another issue that has been raised with me is that there are generous tax concessions for these managed investment schemes, and we have been asked to consider that as well. But it really is the locals, traditional landholders, farmers and people from the agriculture and rural sector who are deeply concerned about it. I am not saying that we have to stop it but that we have to look at how we are implementing it, and aerial spraying in areas where there is a build-up of people is just something that cannot happen.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(Ms AE Burke)—Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for members’ statements has concluded.