Frustration over Ord Stage II

KPIA representatives on the Ord Development Consultative Committee (ODCC) Bruce Carey and Gabi Bloecker expressed their frustration at the lack of progress on development of Ord Stage II.

Since initiating the ODCC some 12 months ago, at the time that Wesfarmers Marubeni withdrew as the development proponents, the KPIA representatives believe that there has been little progress made that will see any development begin in the foreseeable future.

It was hoped that by forming the ODCC, negotiated agreements through consultation could be reached to fast track the development, but this has not been the case, they claim.

Local farmer Gabi Bloecker believes that there has been nothing of any consequence to come out of Stage II in the last 12 years.

She feels that, in spite of continuing verbal and written support from politicians, land release in the Ord River Irrigation Area is not a high priority for the Gallop Government, bearing in mind all the difficulties it will bring with it, and that it will be of benefit only to a small section of the population in the short term.

Gabi is most concerned, that without land availability in the Ord, in the near future, more young farmers will be lost to the NT, where they are welcomed with open arms and can develop the land they require.

Bruce Carey declared as a sad reality, the fact that over the past seven years that he has been in Kununurra, there has only been one piece of land released, and that was back in about 1995, and is land that is now fully developed and highly productive thanks to the Dobson family from Kimberley Produce.

Another issue of concern to the KPIA is the precarious position of the sugar industry in the Ord.

If it is unable to achieve desired viability levels because of a lack of land for sugar production.

It is critical to both the Sugar Mill and the farmers that viability is established by economies of scale and critical mass, and this can only be achieved by having more land available for sugar production.

The KPIA has raised this issue in writing with Premier Gallop, who assured them the sugar industry was not under any threat and would continue in the Ord.

On this issue the KPIA remains sceptical.

Other concerns for Ord farmers is the stated lack of commitment by the State Government towards infrastructure spending on the Stage II development, preferring to have the proponents do all the investing.

The association believes it is disappointing to see projects that have the potential to generate enormous wealth for the State not receive the same consideration as suburban lifestyle projects like the Perth to Mandurah railway.

Apart from this, there are concerns that if and when the development is tendered by the Governments, it will be for the total 30,000 hectares, and the capacity to handle such development within the town of Kununurra and the Shire will be totally inadequate.

Such large-scale development would almost certainly eliminate local contractors from taking part in the construction.

The KPIA maintains that keeping these sorts of jobs in the Kimberley is very important to both Kununurra and Wyndham.

By adopting the staged development strategy, as put forward by the KPIA, agriculture and horticulture would develop production and markets to suit, rather than having to embrace huge monoculture production that would almost certainly be the result of a large scale development.

Over the years the Ord has seen large corporations come and go, while the real achievements in agriculture have been made by individual farmers who have made farming their lives, and these farmers along with some likeminded newcomers are the preferred development option of the KPIA.

As with any new development, there will always be teething problems, and local farmers are convinced that it is far easier to make beneficial adjustments to smaller scale 7,000 to 8,000 hectare developments, as they eventuate, than to the full 30,000 hectares at one time.