Combined Action To Retain Routes For Travelling Stock CARRTS in Wyalong, New South Wales | Non-profit organisation

Combined Action To Retain Routes For Travelling Stock CARRTS

Locality: Wyalong, New South Wales

Phone: +61 427 542 833

Address: PO Box 93 2721 Wyalong, NSW, Australia

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Likes: 1062

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25.01.2022 This news is a bit sad and once again leaves us wondering who's steering the LLS ship. Our impression of Tim was that he was a pretty decent fellow. Goodness knows what's actually happened. http://www.theland.com.au//lls-boss-tim-de-mestre-quits-/

24.01.2022 An extraordinarily moving interaction between drought charity worker Edwina Robertson and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the weekend. Further government assistance has been announced from the Federal Government. http://www.abc.net.au//federal-drought-relief-for/10074216

23.01.2022 If you've not seen this TED Talk video before it's well worth the roughly 20 minutes you'll need to watch it. Allan Savory is a scientist who promotes holistic management agriculture; in essence using travelling stock to reverse the degradation and desertification of land which in turn has a dramatic turn around on the retention of carbon dioxide in the soil. His views are controversial and he's been criticised for supposedly not having enough empirical evidence to back his assertions. From all that we know of how pristine and bio-diverse the land corridors inside the TSRs that are actively being used for periodic grazing are, the examples he gives of land renewal sound well founded and legitimate. https://youtu.be/vpTHi7O66pI

20.01.2022 A very Merry Christmas to all our Facebook followers and supporters. The Combined Action To Retain Routes For Travelling Stock (CARRTS) group is continuing its work on saving the Travelling Stock Routes & reserves and restoring the ability of drovers and graziers to properly use them. It's been a tough year with, what at times appears to be, little progress. Yet there has been improvement in some areas and there's an ongoing dialogue with Local Land Services that we've not ha...d up until now. It's now been more than a year since we made our submission to LLS in response to the Draft TSR Management Framework and we've still had no formal response. They're clearly struggling with aspects of it and we're continuing to highlight how damaging to drovers and graziers (and the livestock industry in general) their bureaucracy, that consumes so much of the scarce resources allocated to it, is. There are dozens of areas that need addressing but the key ones continue to be: Lack of customer focus and relationship management Inflexible grazing permit conditions and lack of competitive market pricing Poor TSR Ranger knowledge and skill levels Inconsistent policies/processes across LLS regions Poor overall TSR management resulting in substantially reduced usage and revenue for TSR upkeep/enhancement Overall lack of understanding how critical the TSRs are and how fundamentally important it is to engage with drovers and graziers as the MAIN SOURCE of historical knowledge and experience around the TSRs and how they're used/maintained. Have a safe holiday y'all and try not to over indulge! Stay tuned for more updates on the workshop we'll be attending in March next year with the LLS in Dubbo.

20.01.2022 CARRTS is aware of this investigation. We're yet to determine the full accuracy of what's being reported but we know who is involved and there's been a history of difficulties and (potentially) illegal activities. We certainly don't condone the behaviour of the drover associated with this unfolding drama and they don't represent what we're working to achieve. This is unfortunately an example of people doing the wrong thing and bringing drovers and graziers into disrepute. This then makes it all the more difficult to challenge poor decision making and flawed policy around management of the TSRs. https://www.theland.com.au//5546066/raid-on-travelling-ca/

19.01.2022 Around 7 CARRTS people and 11 LLS people (including GMs, TSR Rangers and Team Leaders) all met yesterday in Dubbo for a workshop to thrash out the many issues drovers and graziers are experiencing using the TSRs and the complexities the LLS have in delivering services. It was a major event both organisations have been planning and working towards for some time and we were very pleased with the outcome. In essence we came together to explore how we can deal with some of the ma...jor problems and challenges being faced daily but also get a much greater understanding of each other and what's required to get the issues we've been talking about for more than two years now rectified! It was intense at times but everyone stayed very professional and very focused. As is always the case when you make time to get everyone into a room in person to meet and compare notes, you soon realise that there are many many aspects you're not aware of and many complex reasons why things are the way they are. And this was certainly the case yesterday. We had an agenda to talk about five major areas needing focus. We won't go into them here on this brief posting but will put up a report over the next week or so as to what was discussed, the action plans we'll develop as a result of the workshop and what the next steps are to ensure it wasn't just a 'talkfest' with no practical results. Stay tuned. In the meantime though we'd like to thank Local Land Services for putting this workshop on and ensuring it was well facilitated (by Tamworth based business woman and communications consultant Robbie Sefton - seen standing at the front in the pictures - thanks Robbie you did an excellent job).

19.01.2022 This article posted on the ABC's website is from a month ago when ABC Rural reporter Dominique Schwartz had a piece on the 7pm ABC TV news. There are many points in it that are controversial and have created considerable angst within parts of the LLS and NSW government. There are many other points that continue to be real live issues drovers and graziers deal with daily and make any angst government employees experience pail into insignificance. The situation is complex and multi-faceted and the drought is making it even more difficult for everyone involved. This article does however highlight many of the policy failures around the LLS's continued focus on long term leasing that clearly damages the overall viability of the TSR network. http://www.abc.net.au//drovers-say-australian-outb/9916168

18.01.2022 Some coverage this week in The Land around fire hazard reduction issues. It should be noted that there are some inaccuracies in the article. Drover Robert Dodwell is being made to sound like we're saying the LLS shouldn't be charging anything for using the TSRs; that's completely inaccurate. We're all very much aware that charges need to be levied for use of the TSRs. The issue is that in some regions the LLS doesn't seem to be able to respond to basic supply & demand factors... by reducing their fees when competitive private agistment rates go down substantially like they are now. This then prices the TSRs out of being used because the economics simply don't add up. When the grass is plentiful, like it is at the moment in some areas after all that rain, demand goes down and prices need to as well. We'll be holding further talks with them soon. http://www.theland.com.au//4276478/grass-fire-threat-a-t/

17.01.2022 Further to the previous post on the NSW Government's $500M drought relief package, here's the official announcement from the dept of Primary Industries. Of particular importance is this bit on waivers of government fees and charges: "The NSW Government will waive all LLS rates for all landholders in 2019, including General Rates and rates for Animal Health, Pest Animals and Pest Management, the Meat Industry Levy, and costs of Routine Stock Moving Permit and Stock Identifica...tion. Contact Local Land Services for more information on 1300 795 299." https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au//emergency-drought-relief-packa

17.01.2022 A welcome sight in Condobolin as 23 semis with 1200 tons of hay arrived from WA today. http://www.abc.net.au//tears-flow-as-hay-convoy-f/10132274

14.01.2022 It's all about The Love according to The Land! http://www.theland.com.au//tsr-review-graziers-say-stock-/

13.01.2022 https://mobile.abc.net.au//call-for-return-of-tra/9877842

12.01.2022 We've been watching the debate in the NSW Parliament tonight on the Crown Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2016. The Hon. Paul Green from the CDP (Christian Democratic Party) is speaking and highlighting some of the recommendations from the Crown Land Inquiry he chaired. He supports the bill but with 13 amendments that it's believed the government will accept. We're unclear as to the longer term effects (if any) this bill has on the Travelling Stock Routes. It's ridiculously d...ifficult to determine the "between the lines" issues within the bill and we simply don't have the resources to be able to pour over the hundreds of pages the amendment bill involves. A main point though is that community engagement is supposed to be substantially improved which of course we'd welcome (we'll have to wait and see what that actually means though). At around 11:30pm a motion was put forward for the Bill reading and debate to be adjourned until the first sitting of Parliament in February 2017 but it was defeated so (as at 11:45pm) the debate is continuing on and now the Minister Hon. Niall Blair is speaking

11.01.2022 Our livestock industry is amazing! It literally gave Australia the leg up to start earning valuable export revenue that funded the birth and continued expansion... of our transport network. Sheep led the way, then followed by cattle and then dairy being in high demand from our export neighbours in Asia and the USA. Beef is often seen as our most romantic industry. Large mobs of cattle, grazing slowly along open plains, and laughing faces of young station hands on horseback going about their dry and dusty work. Sunsets, sunrises and star-filled night skies. It’s all true of course, however, it is just one view of an industry that has reached all corners of the Australian continent. Not many people know what it’s like to work with livestock and the big open spaces. Here is how Ben Macnamara describes it: Ben Macnamara Every morning I go for a ride or run around the farm with the dogs. This is when I plan for the day, or think about the year that’s been I love farming, it’s in my blood. I can’t get bored in this office. My children have grown up here, with me, helping me. I sometimes wonder why I do it, but I don’t want to be anywhere else. I love watching things grow. Watch the video to see the beauty and diversity of our livestock industry that we all depend upon.

09.01.2022 A few drovers and CARRTS members are attending this workshop in Tamworth today. https://drive.google.com/open

04.01.2022 While we're facing some parliamentary legislative changes around Crown Land down here in NSW, our Qld cousins appear to be dealing with TSR changes that are likely far worse. http://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au//boss-drover-take/

02.01.2022 Some good news on drought relief. This bit will no doubt be particularly welcomed: "farmers will also be eligible for waivers on Local Land Services annual rates" http://www.abc.net.au//nsw-government-announces-n/10051280

02.01.2022 As we noted in our previous posting yesterday, the NSW government has formally briefed us on the upcoming TSR Review they're undertaking. Here's The Land's coverage from yesterday's edition. We'll have more to say on this after our workshop with the LLS next week (Tuesday 2/May/17) and we'll be engaging with all of our stakeholders to gather further input and commentary. http://www.theland.com.au//state-to-review-stock-route-us/

02.01.2022 This article is from a year ago and from the U.S. based Beef Magazine (with mention of studies done by scientists in southeastern Oregon) but it's directly related to the similar benefits our active TSRs bring; with cattle grazing being a fundamentally important aspect of fire hazard reduction. Thanks to Chrissie French for the source. https://www.beefmagazine.com//studies-demonstrate-how-catt

01.01.2022 It's been a long time since we've posted here on the CARRTS Facebook page however there's been much ongoing activity with the CARRTS Executive Committee actively pursuing the organisation's objectives. In the past few months we have: 1. Partaken in six conference phone calls with the Director Special Projects at LLS Alex Anthony and the General Manager Murray, Gary Rodda, between November 2016 and April 2017. 2. Engaged with the LLS in the Central West area to get the long-ru...nning difficulty with the fenced TSR at Bimbi sorted (gates are now being installed and the previous complete no-go status of that facility has been altered). 3. Taken part in the organising of a CARRTS/LLS workshop which is being held this coming Tuesday, 2nd May 2017 at Dubbo and is being professionally facilitated by known regional businesswoman and corporate communications specialist Robbie Sefton. 4. Along with the National Farmer's Federation attended a special briefing at Minister for Primary Industries, Regional Water and Trade and Industry, Niall Blair's office in Martin Place, Sydney, regarding the NSW Travelling Stock Reserve Review that's been released today. 5. Spoken individually to a number of the LLS General Managers about ongoing issues we're dealing with in their specific locations and further increased our standing with these key individuals. 6. Had ongoing interaction with The Land newspaper in regards to the review announced by the NSW Government today. We'll update you further on progress after next week's CARRTS/LLS workshop. Indications are that there's movement now and we're seeing the LLS working to rectify many of the difficulties. We'll (of course) also be responding to the review so we'd welcome any information, comments or anecdotes you think are important. Thank you for your ongoing interest and support. https://www.nsw.gov.au//nsw-travelling-stock-reserve-revi/

01.01.2022 We've been a bit quiet on the Facebook page this past couple of months but we're all still here plugging away and working on the goal of saving the Travelling Stock Routes & reserves and restoring the ability of drovers and graziers to properly use them. The CARRTS Executive committee has been continuing to engage with the NSW government and specifically we've been holding talks with Alex Anthony, the Director of Executive Projects at Local Land Services who is responsible fo...r TSR policy and overall management. Three conference calls have been held over the past six weeks (18/Nov, 2/Dec and 16/Dec) with four of us from CARRTS working through the many issues with Alex. A good initiative has resulted. LLS has agreed to hold a CARRTS/LLS Travelling Stock Route workshop in 2017. The plan is for the CARRTS exec personnel to meet with the General Managers, TSR Rangers and other key LLS personnel from the Northern Tablelands, North West, Central West, Riverina and Murray LLS regions. It will be held in late March 2017 in Dubbo. The planning is underway now and this will be a major event where it's hoped we can come together in the spirit of advancement and progress to get on top of the many challenges. We'll keep you posted of progress towards this workshop and publish the agenda once it's been agreed on. We've made it very clear that it MUST be attended by the five GMs and their TSR Rangers or the event will be a waste of time. Indications are this is being treated seriously so we're hopeful this could actually be a key milestone in the work being done.

01.01.2022 Dozens of issues highlighted in this article by Alex Druce from The Land reporting on The NSW Farmers Association recent Sydney conference. One of the challenges in dealing with the many issues drovers and graziers experience is there isn't uniform agreement on what all those issues and challenges are. It's complex and not everyone's working towards the same outcomes. Anyhow, we're still posting this as it's an important report. https://www.theland.com.au//long-paddock-love-soured-amid/