THE HOMESTEAD
RATHBURNIE ESTATE 
1166 MT. STANLEY ROAD 
AVOCAVALE DISTRICT (ESK SHIRE)
VIA LINVILLE. Q. 4306. 
Upper Brisbane River.

7th February, 2004.

T0:
Dr. Neil Byrne,
Presiding Commissioner, 
Native Vegetation Inquiry, 
Productivity Commission, 
LB.2 Collins Street,
EAST MELBOURNE. VICT. 8003.

SUBMISSION.

This Submission is made by a 76-year old Queenslander, who worked
in Agrostology Department of C.S.I.R.O. prior to her marriage to
a beef cattle/lucerne farmer fifty years ago, and who has travelled extensively world-wide often with Angus World Forums or International Park Tours.  Having no family nor siblings, my interest is in the National Estate - the land of Australia.

FREEHOLD TENURE. Not widely understood by landholders, this tenure is in “Fee Simple” - freedom from paying rental to the State as opposed to Leasehold tenure.  It does NOT mean freedom to do what one likes with the land to the detriment of the National Estate of all Australians.

CLEARING CONTROLS. The main stated rationale for the introduction of clearing controls relate to trees, often overlooking native grasslands which form an integrated component of native vegetation; and specifying a percentage (~) of trees rather than spacing or density which are irrefutable densities.

BIODIVERSITY. The base of the pyramid of life on earth (of which mankind is the apex) is LIVING SOIL BIODIVERSITY - mostly overlooked instead of being addressed in the first instance.

SALINITY, EROSION, WATER QUALITY & WATER QUANTITY are affected by the HUMUS content of living soil biota; and a balance between trees and perennial grasses and grazing animals which leave or trample sufficient mulch to feed the soil biota and thereby produce HUMUS - the most valuable natural resource on earth - providing fertility, carbon sequestation, moisture retention and porosity to allow surplus rainfall to penetrate to the aquifer to feed the streams all year round rather than promote flash flooding from degraded soil surfaces.

RIVER BANKS. Many solutions have been offered relating to fencing off watercourses or parts thereof.  If watercourses are t o b e fenced, it is essential the fences are located out of flood level and encompass a sufficiently large area to allow the riverbeds to be rotationally grazed, thereby keeping vegetation in check to permit weed control access.  Alternate watering sites are expensive, requiring solar or wind powered pumps, troughs, piping and concrete trough surrounds; and landholders undertaking such fencing are required to meet these expensive alternate requirements.

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FIRE MANAGEMENT. Aboriginals managed their land using only mosaic burning patterns extending over many years, and lit at the end of winter when cold night air put fires out.  During the past two hundred years, European "land management" has greatly changed the original landscape, burning surface valuable mulch and encouraging thick tree regeneration requiring regular thinning of regrowth.

A SUSTAINABLE SILVAPASTORAL PROJECT:
INTEGRATED NATIVE PASTURE/NATIVE TIMBER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

The 1700 acre property "Rathburnie" on the headwaters of the Brisbane River catchment was bequeathed by my late Husband, Graham Campbell Burnett, to World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia) for demonstration, education and research into an economic/ecologically sustainable farming system.

In conjunction with a semi-retired M.Ag.Sc. acting as Estate Administrator, we are commencing the ENVIROFUND PROJECT 41984 summary for which is attached hereto. From the Page stating "Why Have you Chosen this way of Tackling the Problem?" you will note we have integrated the research findings of various researchers to seek to address in a combined approach the various fragmented approaches dissapating much of the N.H.T. funds at present.

I commend it to your Inquiry; and suggest that the following incentive procedures be adopted in relation to any landholders undertaking such integrated land management procedures:
(a) Provide landholders with access to data necessary to prepare and submit property plans including aerial photos.
(b) Once approved by Catchment Management Authorities implementation of such plans will entitle landholders to reduced interest rates "as agriculture is a special form of activity, not comparable in any way with trade and industry, owing partly to the nature and length of the operations involved, and partly to the rate of yield on invested capital"
Louis Tardy, Director-General of France National Agricultural Bank.
(c) Such landholders would also have access to assistance for fire-breaks, fencing and weed control by a National Conservation Corps (similar to that President Roosevelt used to transform the Tennessee Valley and Australian World War II Allied Works Council).

Unfortunately I am too old to attend your hearings in Queensland; but trust the above information will assist in your deliberations.

Yours truly,
(Mrs. )V.D. BURNETT.
TRUSTEE - ESTATE G.C. BURNETT (DECD.)