10Th Biennial Conference
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE AUSTRALIAN RANGELAND SOCIETY BIENNIAL CONFERENCE Official publication of The Australian Rangeland Society Copyright and Photocopying © The Australian Rangeland Society 2014. All rights reserved. For non-personal use, no part of this item may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the Australian Rangeland Society and of the author (or the organisation they work or have worked for). Permission of the Australian Rangeland Society for photocopying of articles for non-personal use may be obtained from the Secretary who can be contacted at the email address, [email protected] For personal use, temporary copies necessary to browse this site on screen may be made and a single copy of an article may be downloaded or printed for research or personal use, but no changes are to be made to any of the material. This copyright notice is not to be removed from the front of the article. All efforts have been made by the Australian Rangeland Society to contact the authors. If you believe your copyright has been breached please notify us immediately and we will remove the offending material from our website. Form of Reference The reference for this article should be in this general form; Author family name, initials (year). Title. In: Proceedings of the nth Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference. Pages. (Australian Rangeland Society: Australia). For example: Anderson, L., van Klinken, R. D., and Shepherd, D. (2008). Aerially surveying Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) in the Pilbara. In: ‘A Climate of Change in the Rangelands. Proceedings of the 15th Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference’. (Ed. D. Orr) 4 pages. (Australian Rangeland Society: Australia). Disclaimer The Australian Rangeland Society and Editors cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from the use of information obtained in this article or in the Proceedings of the Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conferences. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Rangeland Society and Editors, neither does the publication of advertisements constitute any endorsement by the Australian Rangeland Society and Editors of the products advertised. Australian Rangelands Society h Biennial Conference Where the city meets the bush: the importance of effective communication mposium Proceedings .A44 44 f -410.4it 4 4 University of Queensland Gatton College 2nd December 1997 , Australian Rangelands Society 10th Biennial Conference Where the city meets the bush: the importance of effective communication Symposium Proceedings University of Queensland Gatton College 2 "d December 1997 Editors E.J. Moll, J. Coutts, M.J. Page and C.F. Kilpatrick Conference Organising Committee Professor Eugene Moll, and Dr Manda Page School of Natural and Rural Systems Management and Mr Bruce Alchin School of land and Food ISBN 0- 909816 -34 -4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS `/ fiE oqui.fr,aan .Ran9Efanc.lieSoet .t4:0 11171410 THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND GATTON COLLEGE The Executive Dean Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science The Head of the Departments of Natural and Rural Systems Management Plant Production Meat Research Corporation fr'N. Rural Extension Centre g Gatton QueenslandAustralia 'Enriching rural communities through learning partnerships' FOREWORD More than 75% of Australia is rangelands. Today rangelands not only refers to land grazed by mammalian herbivores, but also incorporates land mined for minerals and fossil fuels, areas set aside for conservation and preserving biodiversity, and areas utilised for ecotourism.Rangelands are also seen as offering a buffer for global factors such as pollutants and CO2 emissions. The future health and wealth of our rangelands should,be of concern to all Australians - whether they are indigenous peoples, pastoralists and/or town or city dwéllers. Recently much has been reported in the media concerning coexistence, Aboriginal rights, extinguishment of Aboriginal right by pastoral leases, and the ecologically sustainable use of rangelands. Many of these reports are inaccurate, mischievous and deliberately misleading in order to create uncertainty. The key to avoiding such uncertainty is for all peoples concerned with our rangelands to communicate effectively. Unfortunately, in today's world the vast majority of "City" people have little understanding of the ecological, social and economic processes that operate in the rangelands. City people are generally separated from their sources of food and energy, and yet they have most of the political influence. "Bush" people on the other hand, have to deal with Australia's boom and bust climatic cycles, and are often at the mercy of economic, social and political wranglings that rarely consider ecological sustainability. Unless we all work together for the Nation's common good, the future is bleak. Never before have our rangelands been under such threat.It is time for all stakeholders to meet together to resolve differences, and to understand and respect each other's aspirations. If we work together for a harmonious future we can all benefit from the multiple products offered by the rangelands. During the 1st to the 4th of December 1997 at the University of Queensland Gatton College, the Australian Rangeland Society held its 10th biennial conference. On the first day a suite of invited speakers presented their perspectives on these complex issues surrounding the future of our rangelands. A variety of stakeholders attended to listen and discuss these issues in a non -threatening environment. This publication is a record of that meeting where the participants were provided with a greater insight into the current issues related to the rangelands. This was where the city met the bush in an exercise of effective communication. This conference, and the subsequent production of this publication, would not have been possible without the contributions of a great number of people.Firstly our thanks go to those who attended and presented at the symposium and conference.Special thanks to Denzil Mills, Simon Campbell, Andrew Nicholson and John Craig who were invited to, and gave their perceptions of the papers presented at the symposium. We appreciate the contributions made by those organisations listed on the previous page to the running of the conference. Thanks to Alice Moll, the conference organisational and administrative assistant, for contributing so much time and effort to ensure the conference ran smoothly. Thanks to the staff and students of Gatton College for taking care of the numerous small but important tasks. Special thanks to Catherine Kilpatrick and the Rural Extension Centre for their work and support in producing this publication. We also acknowledge the contribution of Emeritus Professor Rod Jensen and Mr David Byrne who presented at the symposium, but whose papers could not be included in this publication. The views expressed in these proceedings are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Australian Rangelands Society. All papers have been refereed by at least two independent reviewers to check scientific validity. The illustration on the front cover was drawn by Bradd Witt and reproduced with kind permission of the Queensland Department of Environment. The front cover was designed by Catherine Kilpatrick. TABLE OF CONTENTS Symposium Papers in order of delivery Foreword Is anyone out there? Do the Rangelands have a future? Robert Becton 1 Rangelands in a Planetist Future Peter Ellyard 11 Industry Commission Inquiry on Ecologically Sustainable Land Management (ESLM) Jeffrey Rae 25 Rangelands Imperatives - a view from Capital Hill Nick Able and Bill Tatnell : 31 Meeting the Needs of the Rangelands - A View from the City Elizabeth Woods 41 City Imperatives - A Stakeholder's' Observations Ian Buck 49 Mining and the Developmént of Lasting Relationships Barrie Mathias 51 Rangeland Survival. The People. The Bush Roger Landsberg 55 Preserving the Social Fabric of Rangeland Communities John H. Holmes 61 Bush Imperatives - Sink or Swim? Jenny Crichton 71 Who Cares? : A Look at Rural Emotions Rob Brabrook 73 Adult Learning Approaches - Assisting Effective Two Way Communication Jeff Coutts 75 Ecological Imperatives and Pastoral Systems for the Australian Rangelands Keith Woodford 79 Ecojustice: Re- defining Land Capability Brian Roberts 83 The Wik Decision: Summary and Implications for Land Management of Pastoral Leases Anne Ross 89 Perceptions of ARS 1O" Biennial Conference IS ANYONE OUT THERE? DO THE RANGELANDS HAVE A FUTURE? Robert J.S. Beeton Department of Natural and Rural Systems Management, University of Queensland, Gatton College 4345 The theme of this meeting is clearly one of seeking a balance between naturalness and usefulness. That is, we seek the illusion of a perfect natural landscape in harmony with our endeavors. This goal has puzzled me for many years. What I have learnt is that the solution does not lie in compartmentalisation. We cannot divide the landscape up into bits and define from first principles how each bit should be managed. The logical deduction from this is that we cannot all study the problem from our pet paradigm, be it economics, ecology, remote sensing, agricultural production or biodiversity protection, and hope that by shouting at each other truth will emerge. Neither, I suspect, can we invent a new