Pastoralists fed up with ‘lack of respect for their land’

Pastoralists along the North West Coastal Highway are fed up with what they claim is a lack of respect for their land, with reports of poaching, fires, litter and broken gates rife along the road.

As a results of allegedly frequent negligent behaviour by the public, Mundaballungana Station manager Michael Thompson has locked the Turner River access gate on Boodarie Station, which he leases from BHP. A sign put up at the gate has already been removed.

Mr Thompson showed the Pilbara News one of what he says are many “killing fields” littered across both stations where dozens of kangaroos had been butchered and left to rot, alongside rubbish.

“We have caught shooters in the past, you might win the case, as in you catch them red-handed, but you have to take them to court to get the money for the damages they have caused, ” he said.

“People just won’t shut the gates. They are not even supposed to come through the Turner River gate and then they leave it open.

“If you lock it, they cut your fences, the cattle end up on the road and it’s only a matter of time before someone has an accident and is killed.”

Mr Thompson said one gate would remain open for access to the coast line.

With access to the Balla Balla and Sherlock rivers running through his property, Sherlock Station manager David Bone said anglers were probably responsible for fouling and emptying water troughs vital to his cattle’s wellbeing.

“If someone comes along and tampers with the troughs and lets the tanks go, all that water just runs out on the ground and we might not find out for three or four days, ” he said.

“All of a sudden that becomes an animal welfare issue and it costs us a lot of money to fix those sorts of things.

“With regards to denying access, a lot of the time when I say no to people to places they want to go shooting it’s because I have men out there.”

On Warambie Station, manager Sean O’Brien said while he still had issues with people running over fences and poaching stock, they had become less frequent since he had trespassers prosecuted.

“I followed their tracks where they went through the fence, caught them up, took photos, escorted them off the property then took the photos to the local police, ” he said.

“The police do a good job but they can’t be out and about here all the time, they have other stuff to do.

“I have put in motion detector cameras, signage, locks on gates — other than that I don’t know what else to do.”

A Department of Lands spokesman said many daily activities on pastoral stations, such as mustering, shooting or burning off, could be dangerous to the public.

“For these reasons the public is encouraged to contact pastoralists before entering a station, ” he said. “You do not need permission to travel on a public road through a pastoral station, however even on a public road you may still encounter gates and livestock.

“You must leave gates as you find them and never interfere with livestock.”

From each pastoralist the message was the same — respect is a two-way street.

“People need to realise this is our home, our livelihood and our income, ” Mr Bone said.

“All it takes is a simple phone call a few days in advance to say ‘hey, can we come out and shoot a few roos or go fishing?, or whatever.”

Mr Bones said knowing who was on his station, where they were and what they were doing was necessary as managers were liable for everything that happened on their land.