Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce insists there will be no ADF compulsory land buy
Updated
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says there is no intention to force Queensland graziers to sell their land as part of Australian Defence Force training area expansions, however the Prime Minister does not rule it out.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has put about 60 graziers on notice that they may be forced to sell their land, spanning hundreds of thousands of hectares, north of Rockhampton and west of Townsville.
It is to expand the Shoalwater Bay and Townsville training areas to cater for larger war games and an increased number of Singaporean troops training in the region.
Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Mr Joyce is travelling to Rockhampton today to meet the affected cattle producers.
"I've not had one discussion with one person [in Canberra] who's told me that was their intention," he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"I've been talking at the highest levels, and obviously if they had said that I would be saying to them that's not the way we're going to operate.
"I don't know whether there ever would be any compulsory acquisitions. At this point of time there is no intention of compulsory acquisitions.
"If that's the tenor of the conversation then I'll be having further discussions back in Canberra."
Turnbull says forced sales 'last resort'
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was not as definite as his deputy and did not rule out compulsory acquisitions.
He said forced sales would be a last resort.
"[Defence Minister] Marise Payne and I have asked Defence to make sure that they acquire no more land than they need," he told 2SM radio.
"To look at focusing very much on their needs, and to ensure that acquisitions as far as possible are done consensually, so by agreement.
"So compulsorily acquisition is a last resort.
"Ideally you want acquisitions of property to be done by agreement and that's the objective."
'They are looking at prime agricultural land'
Craig Mace is one of the affected graziers who will meet with Mr Joyce.
He is also on the ADF's environment advisory committee for the Shoalwater Bay training area.
In October, the committee was told the ADF was looking to buy nearby land if it came onto the market.
"There was never any suggestion that there was this much that they wanted and whether it was going to be compulsorily acquired," Mr Mace said.
So when graziers received notices of a huge potential land grab the following month, Mr Mace said: "We were devastated".
"They are looking at prime agricultural land instead of land that is available for sale elsewhere," he said.
The proposed land acquisitions are the result of a $2.25 billion Defence deal signed with Singapore last year to increase its forces' military training in Queensland.
Neither Defence Minister Marise Payne nor Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made any mention of land acquisitions, either compulsory or voluntary, when the deal was announced in May, two months before the federal election.
Rockhampton sits in the Liberal National Party's most marginal electorate, which its candidate Michelle Landry won by a mere 1,111 votes.
Topics: rural, livestock, government-and-politics, activism-and-lobbying, federal---state-issues, defence-forces, shoalwater-4702, qld, rockhampton-4700
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