Long paddock 'highway’ plan, push to extinguish Western TSR routes

Government’s interim report on its TSR review also unveiled mapping for a proposed ‘livestock highway’ connecting Victoria and QLD through central NSW.

Lands Minister Paul Toole said almost 900 submissions were made to the review of the TSR network, which was announced back in April in order to gauge future of the resource. 

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In 2015, drovers and graziers were worried government’s pending Crown land reforms would see rules tweaked so lesser-used stock reserves could be dismantled and taken off government’s books, or cashed in.

But Mr Toole pointed out 73 per cent of the 423 responses from Western Lands leaseholders indicated the stock routes were now rarely used, and would be better to be removed. 

“Most leaseholders in the western division said TSRs on their properties have not been used for travelling stock for more than a decade due to better and cheaper transport options,” Mr Toole said.

He also said submissions from the central and eastern division outlined how TSRs remain important for droving, Aboriginal cultural heritage, recreation and biosecurity.

Stock routes – fondly referred to as the Long Paddock – are Crown land parcels that serve as mustering corridors, pasture reserves during drought, and spaces for public recreation, apiaries, and conservation. A quarter of NSW’s 6500 stock reserves - about 500,000ha or $430 million worth - is maintained by LLS. Most of these are in eastern and central NSW. 

The remaining 1.5m ha out west is managed by the Department of Industry via tenures granted under Crown land laws.

Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair has also unveiled a proposed network of TSR highways connecting Victoria and QLD. 

NSW Farmers president Derek Schoen welcomed the mapping of the highway, which he said would better support farmers to manage stock transfers. On the future of TSRs in Western NSW, he nodded to local farmer know-how on their dwindling use, and noted the status of Crown Land leases would not change. 

The final TSR report will be released early 2018.

MAJOR issues raised by stock route users include a need for better conservation, Aboriginal cultural heritage and access – as well as removing restrictions of locked gates, long-term grazing permits and illegal activity. 

Government’s review was also told existing, grazing-based funding model does not allow for TSRs to be adequately managed for their multiple uses and values. 

Coolah beef producer Hamish Thompson, president of stakeholder group Combined Action To Retain Routes for Travelling Stock, said there was still a lot of work to be done to give the routes certainty. 

“I’m feeling a lot better than I was two years ago, but we’ve got so much work to do to get them up to scratch so we can get cattle along them,” he said. “Weeds, pests, fences, bores that have been let go… Suddenly you’ve got to go 40kms out of the way to give your cattle a drink.” 

In the state’s far North West, landholders Ed and Jill Fessey, “Bullabelalie”, Weilmoringle, said while there was a nostalgic desire for all Western Division stock routes to remain, a number of legal ramifications had reared up.

“It’s a different scenario closer to the coast, but the majority out here aren’t formally marked with a fence - and you’d be very game to go for a wander through people’s country saying you’re on a stock route,” Mr Fessey said. 

“It’s far more straight forward those (Western) routes that aren’t designed or used any more to be resumed by the leaseholder. Reducing access is reducing risk, ability for people to find backdoor ways to steal goats, and injure themselves.

“If they are enclosed and issued to the landholder that erases all those issues. They’re essentially lines on a map now anyway.”

Mr Fessey, 55, said the last people he knew of to drive cattle out his way was in 1971. 

“There’s no feed and water basically. It’s pretty rough country.”