4651.0 - Land Management: Fitzroy and Livingstone Shires Queensland, 2004-2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/02/2006   
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  • Natural resource management survey puts a spotlight on Fitzroy and Livingstone Shires in Queensland (Media Release)

MEDIA RELEASE

February 1, 2006
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
09/2006
Natural resource management survey puts a spotlight on Fitzroy and Livingstone Shires in Queensland

A new survey approach by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) presents Queensland's Fitzroy and Livingstone Shires' natural resource management (NRM) practices across previously unavailable boundaries.

The results of the survey, released today, use information from about 1,300 land owners and provide an important insight into land management in both shires. The survey covered 1.2 million rural hectares.

The data is presented for five different geographical boundaries - by shire, for a riparian zone 5km either side of the Fitzroy River, for a 20km wide coastal zone, for radial zones from the Rockhampton City Centre and by neighbourhood catchments.

Of the 4,025 rural landholders in both shires, 3,289 reported that their holdings had NRM issues during the year ended 30 June 2005. Residential landholders in the Fitzroy Shire spend an average of $40 per hectare addressing NRM issues compared to $54 per hectare in the Livingstone Shire. In the Fitzroy Shire, non-residential landholders spent an average of $12 per hectare addressing NRM issues compared to $10 per hectare in the Livingstone Shire.

Age or ill health was reported as a barrier to improving NRM practices by 63% of residential landholders within the 5km Fitzroy River riparian zone. Nearly three-quarters of the non-residential landholders within the riparian zone reported age or health issues as a barrier.
The survey showed that 14% of the non-residential landholders within the riparian zone plan to sell all or part of their holdings in the next five years.

Within the 20km coastal zone 88,075 hectares were classified as grazing land. As at 30 June 2005, a total of 28,200 cattle were being grazed on 94% of this grazing land. The stocking rate was 2.9 hectares per beast. In comparison, the stocking rate outside the coastal zone was 4.0 hectares per beast.

The full results of the survey are found in Land Management: Fitzroy and Livingstone Shires Queensland, 2004-2005 (cat. no. 4651.0) which is available free from the ABS web site.

The new survey approach could revolutionise collection of land management data in rural areas and is strongly supported by those areas which have experienced it.

It was first used in the Eurobodalla Shire (NSW) in 2004. The 2005 trial focused on the Fitzroy and Livingstone Shires in Queensland.