Repairs to parts of the South Australian Dog Fence damaged during the 2022 Central and South Australian Floods will receive a $2.67 million funding boost through new disaster support, as the Dog Fence Rebuild project reaches the construction halfway point.
The flood support will be jointly funded by the Albanese and Malinauskas Governments through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), to help with the continuation of flood repairs on the fence and a coordinated weed and pest management program on Eyre Peninsula.
The original $25 million Dog Fence Rebuild project was launched in 2020, funded through the Federal Government ($10 million), State Government ($10 million) and the South Australian livestock industry ($5 million).
It will rebuild 1600 km of fencing and replace the more than 100-year-old fence which had been degraded over time through a combination of weather, sand erosion and the impacts of kangaroos, emus, feral camels, and wild dogs. To date, 800 km of new fencing has been constructed.
During the January 2022 floods, 1000 km of the fence from Coober Pedy to Lake Frome was impacted, breaching the old fence in 67 sections. Urgent temporary repairs were undertaken to ensure it could be dog proof as quickly as possible, delaying the bigger rebuild project.
Permanent repairs to nearly 7 km of the flood damaged fence were undertaken in 2022, with another 18 km of permanent repairs being undertaken this year.
In areas where the Dog Fence Rebuild has now been completed, the combination of the new fence work, along with the integration of other wild dog control methods such as baiting and trapping, have provided landholders with the confidence to restock sheep on their properties.
Eleven properties, covering 18,036 square kilometres have now restocked, including Mulyungarie Station, which now boasts 20,000 sheep in paddocks for the first time in many years.
Due to be completed in June 2025, the project is estimated to deliver net benefits to the state between $56 million to $113 million over 20 years.
Weed and pest management
The DRFA funding will also be used for a coordinated weed and pest management program on the Eyre Peninsula.
The jointly funded $2 million program developed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) in liaison with the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board, will further assist in land management repair and pest control to flood affected areas in the region.
Flood waters transported seeds and plant fragments, depositing them in sediments to establish new populations of invasive weeds in waterways, erosion gullies and floodplains, providing pest animals including rabbits an opportunity to thrive through an abundance of fresh vegetation to feed on.
The two-year program will feature workshops and grant programs aimed at assisting landholders to improve their capability to identify and eradicate priority weed and pests along with funding for subsidised herbicides and equipment to enable targeted, high priority weed and pest animal control to be undertaken.