Media Releases

The Brumby government has failed farmers battling to save their best crops in over a decade from ravaging locusts hordes, according Nationals Member for Rodney, Paul Weller.

Mr Weller said he was very alarmed to learn supplies of Green Guard, the spray needed to fight the locusts, had not arrived at local government offices despite the government having had many months to get their planning right.

“It is not as though the government was not warned about the need to be fully prepared. I first asked for this back in early May, and followed up in June, and yet we are still faced with these serious problems.

“I was in contact with the Shire of Campaspe this week, and they told me that they had still not received their supply of Green Guard for distribution to farmers. It’s an absolute disgrace.

“On top of that, they also said that they had been informed by the government that there would be certain areas where spraying could not take place, no matter what the risk from the locust invasion was.

“Apparently there is some environmental concern that takes precedence in certain areas, according to the Brumby Government.

“So despite the fact that desperate farmers everywhere are trying to protect the first decent crops they have had in over a decade, the government continues to place obstacles in their way,” Mr Weller said.

He said that the Coalition had been pushing for many months to ensure that planning was in place to fight the locusts, and was heartened to some degree when the Government finally announced the formation of a taskforce in mid-June.

“There was a worrying sign then when it was announced that the Premier, Mr Brumby, and not the agriculture minister would head the taskforce, and those concerns have been well-founded.

“We now have a critical situation where the locusts are at their most dangerous phase, and yet chemical supplies needed for spraying have still not been provided. And on top of that, the government declares certain no spray zones, putting conservation concerns ahead of farmers’ livelihoods.

“It is just so typical of a tired and arrogant government,” he said.

Mr Weller said he would be putting in urgent requests to the government to get the Green Guard spray into the hands of farmers over the next week.

Nationals Member for Rodney, Paul Weller, has warned that a shortage of bio-insecticide to fight the threat of locusts on organic farms could threaten bio-dynamic dairy farmers in northern Victoria.

Since the locusts laid their eggs in autumn this year, we knew that there was the potential for the worst locust plague in 75 years.

The government has not acted quickly enough and has ignored advice from experts to have sufficient supplies of the bio-insecticide Green Guard on hand.

“It’s now spring and organic farmers are struggling to find enough suitable locust spray to adequately cover their properties,” Mr Weller said.

“The Government has had time to plan,” said Mr Weller. “But instead of ensuring that supplies of bio-dynamic spray were sufficient, the Government has shamelessly spent the money on an ad campaign telling farmers about a potential locust plague disaster they already know about.”

“The Premier is threatening that farmers will be prosecuted if they don’t spray hatchings but the only spray they have access to will destroy their farms bio-dynamic accreditation and therefore their livelihood,” Mr Weller said.

“This is another example of the premier ignoring the plight of Regional areas until the last minute,” said Mr Weller.