Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan is bringing together key northern pastoral industry leaders today to chart a strategic approach to 'at risk' pastoral stations in the State's north.
The roundtable meeting, to be held today in Broome, includes representatives from the Kimberley-Pilbara Cattlemen's Association, the Pastoral Lands Board, Kimberley Agriculture and Pastoral Company, Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation, Nyamba Buru Yawaru, Lamboo Station, Pardoo Beef Corporation, Hancock Agriculture, Rio Tinto and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA.
The meeting follows the serious animal welfare issues seen on two pastoral properties in the Kimberley and Pilbara over the past two months.
As noted by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"While the animal welfare response is ongoing at the Pilbara property, and investigations under the Animal Welfare Act are underway into both cases, we need to look longer term at managing animal welfare risks on stations in the north.
"There were clearly catastrophic failures in management at these two pastoral properties, but we need to examine whether structural issues contribute to the problem.
"Today's meeting is about charting a strategic approach to dealing with this issue - bringing together government and industry to prevent a repeat of what we've seen over the last two months.
"We need to look at whether alternative pastoral business models, such as sub-leases, joint ventures or agistment models, can deliver better management outcomes and benefits for Aboriginal communities.
"This meeting will feed into a broader meeting with Pilbara and Kimberley Aboriginal pastoralists in the next three months, focused on strengthening animal welfare management and pastoral business governance."
