Updated
Australia's iconic stock routes are languishing after
years of neglect and are in danger of being privatised, drovers and
ecologists warn.
Key points:
- Travelling stock routes (TSRs) are parcels of Crown land, used to move cattle and sheep
- Drovers and graziers pay to use the stock routes, but say many are falling into disrepair
- The NSW government says it has no plans to sell the state's TSRs, but the opposition isn't convinced
The historic network of reserves for travelling sheep and cattle are etched into the national psyche by writers Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson.
They're also a refuge for endangered flora and fauna, and are rich in Indigenous heritage.
"I'd say there's been a rapid decline, really, in the last three years — they've just got worse and worse," laments drover Brad Brazier.The drover has been on the road with 600 cattle around New South Wales for the past year.
The routes cover 45,000 square kilometres of New South Wales and Queensland, with 76,000 kilometres of tracks in the Sunshine State alone.
Photo:
"I'd say there's been a rapid decline, really, in the last three years," Brad Brazier says of Australia's cattle routes. (ABC News: Dominique Schwartz )
"There are a lot of changes [on the routes]. Fences going up everywhere, leasing and permanent grazing set-ups and things like that," Mr Brazier said.
"[The government] will probably end up trying to start selling those areas off which would have to open up a real can of worms. It'd be a real mess if they ever tried that. It's a big-enough mess now."Drovers and graziers pay to use the stock reserves through a series of permits, and that money is channelled back into weed control, water infrastructure and maintenance.
But it's not value for money, according to Brad Brazier.
He said the cattle owner that he droves for would have spent half a million dollars on travelling permits over the past year, only to find that pasture has been eaten out along the route by resident herds.
Photo:
Drovers fear the NSW government will sell off the state's iconic stock routes. (ABC News: Dominique Schwartz )
The Never-Never Country
by Henry Lawson, 1905
The drovers of the Great Stock Routes
The strange Gulf country know —
Where, travelling from the southern drought
The big lean bullocks go;
And camped by night where plains lie wide,
Like some old ocean's bed,
The watchmen in the starlight ride
Round fifteen hundred head.
NSW says there are 'no plans' to sell off cattle routes
The New South Wales government is waiting for the final report of a review looking at the management of the Travelling Stock Reserves."There are no plans to sell off our travelling stock routes," NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair told the ABC.
"Traditionally the upgrade and investment [comes] from the income that has been generated from those that have used the reserves."
"We've increased that funding by a million dollars and we'll be looking to provide more funding," Mr Blair said.
His office did not provide figures on how much revenue is raised by those who use the routes, saying that "it varies greatly from year to year depending upon seasonal conditions."
But NSW Opposition spokesman for lands and primary industries Mick Veitch said he's concerned they've slated the travelling stock reserve estate for sale.
"The new Crown Land Management Act says the minister can transfer Crown Land to state-owned corporations or departments without notifying the public," Mr Veitch said."They could transfer a Crown Land parcel to Property NSW — that is the real estate arm of the New South Wales government — and it would just make it so much easier to sell without telling the community, and anyone else that may be interested in looking after that parcel of land."
Drought puts added pressure on outback cattle routes
Photo:
Drover Brad Brazier fears for the future of Australia's historic stock routes. (ABC News: Tom Hancock )
In north-western New South Wales alone, there are 38,000 cattle on the routes.
"It's one of the only main drought relief things we've got," Brad Brazier said.
He has been droving for more than three decades and says he's never seen the state so dry — or the routes so poorly maintained.
At Krui Bore near Moree, the windmill turns slowly, but there's no water to be pumped, and it's not even connected to the tank or troughs.
"I've passed through Krui Bore many times over the last 30 years and I've never actually seen this dam dry," he said.
That's an indication not only of how bad things are out here, he said, but also the lack of resourcing to clean out the drains feeding the dam before a storm dumped four inches of rain in April.
The dry dam meant his herd had to walk 25 kilometres between drinks, when anything over 10km is a stretch for the cattle.
'We should be managing them like the Royal Botanic Garden'
Photo:
Ecologist Phil Spark examines one of the rare grasses, Digitaria porrecta, found along the stock routes. (ABC News: Dominique Schwartz )
Like drover Brad Brazier, ecologist Phil Spark is deeply concerned about areas of the routes being fenced off by landholders, with permits to graze for one month or up to five years.
"We are losing a lot of diversity in plants through more constant grazing. Vast areas, really large areas are now fenced for long-term grazing permits," he said.He has just finished an ecological assessment of the north-west region, and said it identified 60 threatened species of plants and animals.
The problem, he said, is that the Travelling Stock Reserves (TSRs) are "not resourced at all".
"That's what brought on this new grazing regime of long-term permits to supposedly get money to feed into the management of them, but that hasn't worked. It's contributing to the decline of the travelling stock routes."
Stock route manager defends grazing permits
Photo:
"We've been managing as best we can," says Wayne Garnsey, who manages stock reserves in north-west NSW. (ABC News: Dominique Schwartz )
From tomorrow, travelling cattle won't be allowed onto the stock routes in north-western New South Wales, unless they are moving to a clear destination.
"Our TSR network is just about exhausted," said Wayne Gransey, the team leader for the North-West Land Services, the New South Wales government agency which manages the stock reserves.
"We've been managing as best we can with high stock numbers, but it's got to the stage where ground cover is at critical levels that can cause soil erosion and land degradation," he told the ABC."We've had to make difficult decisions on future management."
He said the number of cattle allowed on short-term grazing permits held by landowners would also be reduced.
Mr Gransey said grazing permits were an important part of managing the stock routes.
The successful tenderer of a long-term permit promises to manage the land as their own, and is responsible for care and maintenance and weed control.
Mr Gransay said that arrangement eases pressure on his staff.
"We've got an incredibly dedicated team of rangers and field officers. Yes, we can't get it all done, but we cover a massive area and they do an excellent job."
He said fences were also used to keep stock off busy roads, and to restrict illegal activity such as woodcutting and rubbish dumping.
Millions of dollars needed to fix up stock route water points
In central-western Queensland, which has battled drought for the best part of seven years, there are similar concerns.
Regional councils manage the stock routes but receive only $800,000 between them from the state government — not nearly enough, according to the Mayor of Longreach, Ed Warren.
He said Longreach ratepayers kick in an extra $100,000 a year and neighbouring councils would contribute similarly.
"There's a lot of watering points and infrastructure getting further behind and it would be millions of dollars to spend to bring them up into a working condition," he said.
Mayor Warren would like to see a wider system of grazing permits to generate more revenue for the stock routes.
He said 70 per cent of the landholders that graze stock on the routes pay nothing.
Photo:
"I want Australians to know it's their land," says cattle drover Billy Little. (ABC News: Aneeta Bhole )
Professional drover Billy Little, who has worked the routes across both states, would like a better user-pays system, but cautions against fencing off sections for local grazing.
More than anything, he wants the stock routes kept in public hands.
"I want Australians to know it's their land, it doesn't belong to a few land-holders who adjoin it, it's everybody's land."
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