Devil of a problem for dairy

THE Abbott government faces an uncomfortable choice between protecting Tasmanian devils and allowing a dairy farm to expand.

THE Abbott government faces a potentially uncomfortable choice between protecting the last large, high-density population of Tasmanian devils and allowing an almost tripling of production at the nation's largest dairy farm.

Tasmania's Labor government, which goes into caretaker mode next week ahead of a March 15 state election, yesterday approved the clearing of 1806ha of native forest and vegetation by dairy farmer Van Diemen's Land.

Already Australia's single largest milk supplier, the NZ-owned company plans to clear the land for new and expanded dairy farms to boost production from 6.25 million kilograms of milk solids to 15 million.

VDL says the $100 million expansion would almost double its workforce to 526 in a region of high unemployment and shrinking manufacturing, while state Labor hopes its go-ahead will help it hold two seats in the key electorate of Braddon.

However, wildlife experts and conservationists say VDL's vast Woolnorth property at the island's northwest tip is the last large, high-density population of devils free of facial tumour disease.

The rare communicable cancer has wiped out an estimated 85 per cent of the iconic marsupial and there are detailed plans to fence the Woolnorth property to keep the disease out of the area.

Conservationists say the fence project, aimed at creating a healthy "insurance" population of devils, would be undermined by habitat clearing and reduction of wallabies, a key devil food.

"If that is the best site to fence off in Tasmania, we've got to make sure that we do everything to ensure that the devils inside are actually protected," said Peter McGlone, director of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust.

"We don't want to be protecting them from the disease and then killing off a proportion of those animals and their habitat inside the fence.

" That's just totally counter-productive. Earlier research by VDL's consultants concluded that the carrying capacity of their property for devils might be reduced by more than 20 animals."

The green light for VDL means the fate of the land clearing now rests with the Abbott government, which must assess the impact on endangered devils and quolls under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.