Farm for the Future

GM in Western Australia

The Minister for Agriculture and Food said in March 2009 that he would not allow GM crop trials in local government areas that have declared themselves GM free.

Local governments have responded: see list of shires. 

Paul actively challenged the trials in Parliament - see motions and questions.

At the very least, the companies running GM crop trials need to sign up to be strictly liable for contamination of the environment or non-GM crops.  Non-GM growers should be compensated if they lose business because of GM contamination, through no fault of their own.

Paul has already asked for a strict liability rule into Western Australian law, but this was not supported by either the Liberal or Labor Party.  Read the Parliamentary debate...

Farming for catchment restoration

We’ve built our prosperity on land clearing and European farming practices have supported Western Australia’s first wave of agricultural prosperity, but with the devastating consequences of land and stream salinity from over-clearing. On top of that our agricultural communities are on a collision course with climate change in the form of declining rainfall and increasing temperatures. Rising fuel prices as result of depleting global oil supplies are also beginning to bite.

We can build our future prosperity on restoring our farming land, while still producing food and fibre.

Tree farming can help restore our water catchments in the medium to high rainfall areas of the south west. More... 

Oil mallee plantings for bioenergy can be used to reduce salinity on land in the wheat belt. More...

Read Paul’s catchment recovery Parliamentary motion...