North-west Tasmanian saleyards call heightened by FMD threat say backers

The planned $2-2.5 million Mill Park Agricultural Hub, Wesley Vale, east of Devonport, will include The park will include a saleyard, stock marshalling area, truck and machinery washdown and biosecurity installations.

North West Saleyard Development Committee chair Mike Badcock said construction of the hub was even more vital now, given the current foot and mouth disease scare

The potential for an FMD incursion made it clear the region was even more vulnerable than ever, to catastrophic infection.

"Because of the close proximity of farms and smaller properties [it] exposes us more to infection and the spread of foreign disease," Mr Badcock said.

"We do not have sufficient facilities for monitoring inspection and traceability and this is dramatically worsened by the way that animals are presently being exchanged, without a local saleyards.

"Stock is changing hands, but it's just not recorded.

"Biosecurity facilities on the north-west are not existent, if serious outbreaks occur."

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The Wesley Vale proposal is one of two suggested sites for a new saleyards, in the region.

Mr Badcock said he could not understand what appeared to be the government's lukewarm attitude towards Wesley Vale.

He said he'd only received acknowledgement of his emails, from Primary Industries Minister Jo Palmer, but she had not shown any concrete support for the project.

"They [the state government] seem to have gone very cold and it's very odd," Mr Badcock said.

"All we have had back is acknowledgements we have sent her an email and there's several of those.

"The minister has said she will get back to us and she hasn't."

The push for a new saleyards in the north-west follows the closure of the Quoiba facility, Devonport, in mid-2020.

Former Tasmania Police western region commander Lauchland Avery said he'd been heavily involved in emergency management, having sat on the state planning committee for the emergency response to outbreaks of animal diseases.

"Saleyards, along with showgrounds, were identified as a key facility to assist in dealing with these emergencies and resultant recovery processors," former Cdr Avery, a beef producer, said.

"I raised, with the Cradle Coast Authority, what facilities would be used now and what is identified in plans, but they could not respond, electing to return to their plans to review them."

He said the Latrobe floods of 2016 were a classic example where Quoiba was used for housing animals.

"Quoiba was also used by truck operators to marshall animals, unload and re-sort them."

He asked how authorities would react if a container load of animals infected by anthrax or foot and mouth disease came into the state through Burnie or Devonport.

"With the demise of showgrounds and the Quoiba saleyards, facilities do not exist," former Cdr Avery said.

It made sense to have a multifunctional facility that could cater for emergencies and also serve as a saleyards for the farming community.

Mr Badcock said the committee would like the state government to provide between $1-$2m towards start-up costs for Wesley Vale.

"It needs stimulus funding, that's all - we have a lot of verbal support, but its hard to get people to fund it if we haven't got a project that can go forward," he said.

"We can start small and grow bigger."

In his latest letter to Ms Palmer, Mr Badcock said the government had recently given $2m to a private company in Scottsdale, to invest in the pig industry.

"Financial support to a public saleyard has economic flow-ons that will be significant and positive for the Tasmanian rural economy," he said.

A spokeswoman for Ms Palmer said the minister would meet with Mr Badcock, later this month.

"Ms Palmer is currently on a New Zealand Trade Mission, however the minister's office has scheduled a meeting with Mike Badcock to discuss his saleyard proposal once the minister returns," the spokeswoman said.

"As a government, we have always said that we remain supportive of any industry-led saleyard initiative that is commercially viable; will improve the sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of the red meat industry in Tasmania and is supported by a robust business case; and that those initiatives will require the direction and support of the industry."