ABC’S harvest ban broadcast policy a public risk

The Western Australian Farmers Federation (Inc.) (WAFarmers) is calling on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to immediately reverse its new radio harvest ban policy in Western Australia.

ABC Radio has advised that it will only broadcast harvest bans (which include the movement of vehicles in paddocks) once per day at 10:00am. This is a significant change from the ABC’s previous policy which was to broadcast harvest bans multiple times per day, allowing it to provide timely updates of newly imposed bans as weather conditions changed.

WAFarmers has received significant feedback from members from across the State about the change in ABC policy, announced last week, with each member raising concerns of the effectiveness and practicality of the new policy and its potential to impact on the safety of people and property.

WAFarmers Director of Policy, Alan Hill said it is unrealistic and potentially dangerous to expect Shires to decide whether a harvest ban should be implemented before the ABC deadline of 9:45am.

“This would require Shires to base their decisions solely on often unreliable forecasts, rather than actual weather conditions”.

As an example of the potential impact, WAFarmers has received feedback from one Shire noting that historically less than 30 per cent of the Shire’s harvest bans have been put in place by 10:00am.

Mr Hill also noted that in trying to meet the unrealistic timeframe of the ABC’s harvest ban policy, it is inevitable that Shires will put bans on unnecessarily as actual weather conditions differ to that forecasted.

“This will put additional and unnecessary costs on farmers and related business through loss of production time.”

WAFarmers members are calling for ABC Radio to return to its previous format of multiple harvest ban announcements throughout the day.

“It is unrealistic for ABC Radio to expect all residents to hear their 10:00am announcement, and in addition to concerns over the time of harvest ban announcement, there is also considerable alarm at the decision to only make one announcement per day,” said Mr Hill.

WAFarmers research indicates that ABC Radio is the most important daily information source for its members who represent more than 4,000 of the States farmers.

While some Shires also make use of SMS to inform of harvest bans, this cannot replace the effectiveness of frequent updates on broadcast radio, which can reach residents and non-residents that are not registered with the Shire or do not have mobile reception on their property.”

“As such, WAFarmers is calling on the ABC and other applicable parties to immediately review this change in policy, and put the safety of the community ahead of programming convenience,” concluded Mr Hill.