In April, NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty committed to legalising virtual fencing technology in her state.
EastAUSmilk government relations manager Denise Spinks told members that in an appearance before a parliamentary committee, the minister again stated the government’s support and her aim to have the regulation before the parliament within two months.
“The Animal Justice Party is still pushing back on the changes, but there remains strong support from the Shooters and Fishers Party and the National Party — their support of the Labor Party change is important to ensure the regulation gets through parliament,” Denise said.
“EAM will continue to monitor these parliamentary processes on behalf of farmers.
“Once the regulation passes, the collar providers will apply for necessary licences — speaking with Halter representatives it is thought the best-case timing scenario is that all going well, collars could be rolled out early in the new year.”
The EAM delegation included James Neale, Scott Hurrell, Andrew Farr and Denise.
The delegation also included NSW beef industry representatives and a Tasmanian farmer who has been using the herding technology on his farm.
The farmers spoke with the minister’s chief of staff and an adviser directly about the opportunities this technology will bring to their operations.
“We also took the opportunity to follow up other matters, including disaster recovery assistance and on-farm development processes,” Denise said.
“In response to farmer concerns raised by EAM recently, the minister intervened to double the department resources processing disaster relief claims — hopefully this will make a real difference.
“Farmers also got to speak with Halter about their particular product and associated costs.
“It was interesting to hear from the Halter team that they are getting an increased uptake in Queensland where the technology is legal.”
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