JIMNA cattle producers Alben and Helen Perrett only have to look over the fence to see the disaster waiting to happen.
Country that was sustainably used for decades for both cattle and timber production is continuing to develop a massive body of combustible fuel that will inevitably erupt into a massive wild fire.
The Perrett’s fear is the resulting wild fire would not only destroy the former forestry country but spread onto adjoining private land.
“Without the cattle and the forestry work on this country all we are seeing is more weeds and a massively increased fire risk,” Mr Perrett said.
“Some of this country hasn’t been burnt in seven years and we’re now told the department is too terrified to touch it.
“There’s good reason for that. This country has to be managed. Once a fire starts, who is going to stop it.
“All locking this country up has done is cause a huge problem that has absolutely nothing to do with protecting the environment.”
The Perretts have 3643 hectares of freehold country alongside the 2500ha of country that has been now been effectively abandoned as unmanaged park lands. That country ran 220 of the Perrett’s breeders, country the Perretts would dearly like to have back under their Diaper Station brand.
One issue that appears to have been conveniently ignored by government is the Perrett family bought the then grazing leases in 1964.
“We paid real money for them and having a rolling 20 year tenure, they were a saleable asset,” Mr Perrett said. “Now there is no tenure and there is no value because there is nothing to sell.”
Mr Perrett estimated replacement country to run the missing 220 cows would cost about $1.5 million.
“For more than 50 years we maintained the tracks, provided the waters that could be used to fight fires and the cattle kept the fuel load in check,” Mr Perrett said. “Now we have a situation where we have lost a quarter of our cattle business and had it replaced by a massive fire risk. What the real purpose of locking this country up is still not clear. Surely it is better that the country is managed and the state government receives a return on the land rather than allowing this crazy situation to develop.”
Mr Perrett said he had written to the department requesting a stock grazing permit.
“They just won’t enter into any correspondence,” Mr Perrett said. “Instead we have a mustering permit and six months to get our cattle off.”
The conversion of forestry country to national parks has been part of a long term strategy by successive Labor governments in an ongoing bid to secure the political support of extreme green groups. The aim has been lock up 5 per cent of Queensland’s land mass.
