David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, upon notice, on 17 August 2011:

(1)   What was the total government contribution toward the purchase of Henbury Station in the Northern Territory by RM Williams Agricultural Holdings.

(2)   Who holds the title to this property after the sale.

(3)   Will the Government receive any financial return derived from future activities or enterprises operated on Henbury Station.

(4)   What taxpayer benefits does the Government expect to deliver through this investment.

(5)   Given that official statements by the Government refer to Henbury Station as a former pastoral property, has the land tenure changed from a perpetual pastoral lease; if not, is it the intention to change the land tenure.

(6)   If the land use and therefore land tenure is changed what are the Native Title implications.

(7)   Will this type of government assistance/investment be made available to other pastoral enterprises, particularly smaller private operators in the Northern Territory, considering that it has indicated that Henbury Station is a pilot project that could lead to other farms also being included in the program.

(8)   Can a detailed assessment be provided of the environmental benefits to be gained from removing cattle from the property, given that the department already states that 70 per cent of the property largely remains in its natural condition at present.

(9)   Can a copy be provided of the modelling which demonstrates how the project will achieve the company plan to sequestrate up to 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year for the next 10 to 15 years.

(10)   Does the Government intend funding further baseline audits to allow other organisations to develop similar proposals for their businesses.

(11)   Will the value of non Kyoto compliant carbon credits be subsidised by the Government as they currently have little to no value, and what will this cost be in future years.

(12)    (a) what social and economic impact assessment did the Government undertake to establish the likely impacts on profitability of the remainder of the beef industry in that region and the impact of taking a significant food production property out of production and can that research be provided; and (b) what impacts will this have on the provision of services and infrastructure (given a very significant part of the industry no longer exists) leaving those still operating to bear a proportionately higher cost of service industry overheads and can any research be provided.

(13)   Did the Government conduct any research into what impacts this contraction of local industry may have on the capital value of the other properties in the Alice Springs region, given that profitability will reduce and that reduced social strength will make the region less attractive to investment by traditional food producers; if so, can that research be provided.