The Cook Labor Government’s growing flirtation with the Greens and the Animal Justice Party should concern every farming and pastoral family in Western Australia.
Because while WA agriculture is dealing with some of the toughest operating conditions in years, Labor is increasingly entertaining activist politics pushed by people with little understanding of the realities of life on the land.
Farmers across WA are already staring down the threat of a mouse plague estimated to put more than $1 billion of agricultural production at risk. At the same time, they are battling soaring fuel prices, rising fertiliser costs, freight pressures, labour shortages and mounting biosecurity concerns.
Yet instead of standing shoulder to shoulder with the industries that feed and clothe this State, Labor is drifting further toward fringe ideology; something we saw before when a dodgy deal during a by-election in Melbourne led to the shut down of WA’s live sheep export industry.
Now we are seeing the same warning signs again.
Last week during Budget Estimates, I asked the Government directly whether they support maintaining the classification of dingoes and wild dogs as pests in Western Australia.
It was a straightforward question.
Do you support protecting livestock producers from wild dogs, yes or no?
But they would not answer it clearly or directly.
That silence tells primary producers everything they needed to know.
Because if the answer was yes, they would have said it immediately.
Regional people have every right not to trust this Cook Labor Government, especially when it comes to decisions around our primary industries. Just look at our once world-class, sustainable forestry and fisheries, now shut down by an ideological Labor Party.
What makes this even more alarming is the context surrounding these debates.
Labor recently voted alongside the Greens and the Animal Justice Party in support of a motion investigating the removal of dingoes as declared pests, while also examining the end of 1080 baiting and strychnine trapping.
That should concern every sheep producer, cattle station and pastoral business in Western Australia.
Because these policies are not being driven by practical biosecurity outcomes.
They are being pushed by activists fundamentally opposed to animal agriculture and livestock production itself.
And while Labor claims it is merely “reviewing” or “consulting”, the facts tell a different story.
The Government’s own Wild Dog Action Plan which provides critical funding for Recognised Biosecurity Groups across WA has seen its funding reduced from $1.26 million to just $1 million. While that reduction may appear modest, it will have real consequences on the ground when spread across 14 groups statewide. The impact is already being felt by groups such as the Meekatharra Rangelands Biosecurity Association which has had its funding halved for the next 12 months.
Reduced funding means fewer resources available for licensed pest management technicians to undertake baiting, trapping and other control activities, ultimately weakening local wild dog management efforts in regional communities.
This comes despite wild dogs continuing to inflict enormous economic and emotional damage across pastoral and agricultural regions.
Wild dogs are not some abstract city debate. They kill livestock. They destroy breeding programs. They cause horrific stress for farming families. They prey on threatened wildlife, and they spread disease, like tapeworm, that destroys native animals reproductivity.
Yet instead of strengthening support, Labor appears to be weakening it.
Equally concerning is the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Wild Dog Action Plan itself. The current plan expires on 30 June this year, yet no replacement has been finalised. This lack of long-term certainty leaves biosecurity unable to properly plan for future programs, creating significant instability at a time when stronger biosecurity measures are needed most.
Country people understand exactly where this road leads.
Once activist politics gain a foothold, they never stop at one issue.
Today it is wild dogs and 1080.
Tomorrow, it may well be livestock transport, grazing practices, intensive farming, and emissions targets on agriculture.
This week I will be travelling to Esperance to meet with farmers still waiting for the State Barrier Fence to finally be completed after seven long years.
The State Barrier Fence is one of the most basic and important biosecurity protections we have, yet sections remain unfinished, including around 136 kilometres near Esperance.
At a time when biosecurity threats are increasing, when producers are demanding practical support, and when taxpayers are contributing billions to the State economy through agriculture, regional WA deserves better than delays, reviews and political games.
What regional people want is simple.
They want a Government that backs agriculture unapologetically.
They want clear answers.
They want strong biosecurity protections.
And they want leaders prepared to stand up for the industries that underpin regional Western Australia, not quietly negotiate them away to appease inner-city activist groups.
Agriculture is the backbone of many regional communities, jobs and economies.
And right now, too many people in the bush are wondering whether this Government still understands that at all.
