VICTORIAN farmers have welcomed the Andrews Government commitment of $5.2 million over the next two years to roadside pest and weed control.
“It’s good to see Labor has recognised local councils need funding to control pest and weed infestations,” Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) land management committee chair Gerald Leach said.
“But this $5.2m equates to an average of $46,000 a year for the state’s 56 rural and regional councils, well short of the $20.8m the VFF asked for in its January pre-budget submission to the State Government.
“We have rural councils, such as Buloke, which has 5313km of roadsides under its control. So funding of $46,000 would equate to about $8.70/km to control weeds and pests.”
The VFF has highlighted the ongoing problems shires covering large areas, but with small populations face in funding roadside weeds and pests. Most of these shires have more than 2000km of roadsides - Yarriambiack with 4811km, Loddon 4728km, Hindmarsh 3177km, Northern Grampians 3420km and many more.
Roadsides are key corridors for the spread of pests and weeds. Allowing infestations to take hold threatens Victoria’s agricultural productivity, our environment and compromises public road safety.
Once a pest infestation has been allowed to spread, it takes even greater levels of resources to get the problem in check.
“Local governments need to be adequately resourced to tackle roadside pests and weeds head on and given the tools to consider private-public partnerships for pest and weed control," Mr Leach said
"We have landholders who are ready and willing to work with state and local government to develop simple agreements to allow landowners adjoining roadsides to assist in pest and weed control.
“The reality is we need more funding for local government and we need to innovatively re-think how we control roadside pests and weeds."
