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PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
SPEECH AT " GENAREN", NARROMINE NSW
LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL LANDCARE PROGRAM GRANTS 1994-95
24 AUGUST 1994
Well thanks very much, Michael and Kylie. Don and Megan Sutherland, the
Shire President, Robert Wilson. Robert, thank you for coming out today. The
other 12 neighbours who have supported this project, and the volunteers, the
LEAP volunteers and the Australian Trust for Conservation volunteers, and
ladies and gentlemen.
Well, it's a great pleasure to be involved with a project like this as the
occasion for announcing the grants for 1994-95, that is the community grants
component of the National Landcare. Progra m of $ 5 million to fund 711 new
community environment projects around the country. And there needs, with
any such announcement, some indication of what these funds are for, and
how they are spent, to communicate what they mean and to enthuse the
country and the community with the need to be doing these things. And I'm
delighted to be at " Genaren" today to see the preservation of this remnant
bush, which has been in some respects, preserved by the fact that the
Sutherland family have farmed this area for so long, and where they have
very low stocking levels, and the consequence of all this has meant that there
is something here that we can draw from and build upon in seeing this project
some to. fruition. And it's a great thing, I think, that Australians are so
committed and to see volunteers as we are seeing them, help in erecting this
fence which, already five kilometres of which is built, and it's going to be, I
think, six, around 400 hectares, or if you still speak in acres as I do, 1000
acres, which is a large lump of country. To see what can happen when we
allow nature to prevail and the natural species to live in harmony with the
property. I suppose it's a commentary on where we've come as a country in rural terms,
that we are celebrating the preservation of 1000 acres of remnant bush. One
would have thought that with a country so large as this that there would have
been many areas so preserved. But this has not been so, with land clearing
and with the practices over the last century, and particularly with the
introduced species the foxes and the rabbits and the feral cats which have
done so much damage to the native species, and that effects of course the
flora, and that changes the whole balance of the area. And I'm very
interested in Michael saying that they intend now to introduce wallabies back
into the area, which have an impact upon the flora which itself will then set up
other balances in the area. It's such a large piece of land, it's going to be a
very interesting experiment, I think, to see what exactly can be done and what
can be achieved in something so representative as this.
Now, in announcing these projects for 1994-95, it means that we'll be doing
similar things across the country. The important thing, I think, is the
awareness of the land and the respect for the land which the Landcare
program is, in a sense, inducing. But of course the program is one thing it
means nothing without the people. And leadership always matters it matters
everywhere, and it matters in this as in everything else.
And I think that the leadership which Michael and Kylie are showing here is
going to be important to this district because there is a view that the city
slickers have sort of got hold of this issue and we people on the land
shouldn't really be, basically, pushed around by these sort of programs. But
when you see people who have farmed areas for so long, as is the case of
this family for a century or so, showing that leadership and also beyond
simply the Landcare project itself into enhanced conservation of the property,
of the sensible management of water, of care and protection against erosion,
care about stocking levels, balancing that part of the property which is~ a6detJ
pasture and that which is not, this is the sort of leadership that Australia
needs in rural Australia. And that, I think, is going to make the difference
across the country. The Commonwealth can help, with it's programs, but this
is essentially a community thing.
And it's where, I think, rural Australia and people in the countryside of this
nation of ours are saying that the community alone can do this, we need
some financial assistance from the government but it is not a claim or a call
on the government to go and do something. It is, essentially, a call to an
enhanced understanding and appreciation for the land which is ours. So, I
am absolutely delighted with the level of commitment and the leadership
particularly by young people such as Michael and Kylie and the interest in
the species of flora and fauna which is so evident in Michael's remarks. This
is the sort of, if you like, educated enthusiasm which is going to make this
program and this sort of thing, work.
I hope that as we grow and prosper, as we learn more, that we come to know
that the indiscriminate clearing of land is a danger to us, that it threatens the
ground, that we have developed ourselves now as a major producer of wool
in the world, that the country has actually made the transition to hard hoofed
animals, from the native soft ones. And yet, we can do that and survive the
experience of that change if we are careful about how we do it. And, it is that,
I think, engendering that sort of spirit that is going to make the difference.
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Now, I know that it is hard to engender spirit in difficult times. And,
particularly with the drought. Drought coming and going in some areas, in
one year, off the next, back the following year... It is very dispiriting,
destroying farm incomes, creating a lot of rural poverty. And, the point I was
trying to make a week or two ago is, I think, that we have to regard the
drought as something that is around, in places, most of the time, coming and
going. And, we need programs to deal with it as well as the funding which the
Commonwealth announced my colleague, Bob Collins, announced a week
or so ago $ 13.89 million for exceptional circumstances funding for the
drought where it hits an area particularly hard. And, as you know, we are
adjusting the Rural Adjustment Scheme -( RAS) seeing where you have viable
farms but they take a knock in some particular year, that there is some
financial assistance to be able to meet some of those costs to keep the bank
happy and to keep the business on the road. That, I think, is the challenge.
It is probably true, though I'm not the one to say, that weather patterns have
changed, that we are in a cycle we may have been in at other times in this
century where drought is around quite often. And, I think, we owe it to the
rural community of this country, to those people who are in very viable
country, particularly, and even those at the margins who can generally
survive from one season to another, to help them through with assistance.
That's why we're keeping the RAS scheme and its application under review,
and why we are seeking to get some sort of uniformity in its application
across the states so that in one state, and not another, people are being
treated more generously than somewhere else.
So, there are a few bright spots on the horizon. Wool prices have picked up
and that is going to make a difference to rural incomes. We've been seeing
prices around 700 cents for certain categories of wool which is a substantial
improvement on what we've seen. We're still living, of course, and have
been, with the overhang of the wool stockpile but that is being managed and
we've got, after all, the premium fibre in the world. We produce it in this
country and we're the best at it. So, that is a strong thing for us and, of
course, the grain markets of the world are essentially insatiable and that
depends, of course on good seasons and some innovation in the way we
crop this country. At any rate, one has to be, despite the problems, an
optimist about the future in terms of rural industry with an improvement in the
general understanding of the marketing of our various major commodities.
And, a willingness certainly on the part of the federal government and I am
sure the state governments too to help farmers where help can be really
valuable in getting them through a difficult period where drought has been
about. So, today, I think, we have some things to celebrate and this project here at
' Genaren', the preservation of this remnant vegetation of what it would have
been like... We're seeing here what we might have seen right across this
region of NSW, in various ways, the natural bushland, which has, because of
enlightened management been preserved enough of it preserved to let it
regenerate back. And, I certainly congratulate Michael and Kylie, all those
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owners nearby who are committed to this and to the volunteers who have
their heart and their faith in Australia, in the value of the land and our respect
for it and wanting to put something back. It is your leadership that is going to
make the difference. And, congratulations to you, one and all.
ends.