Bbid to Build Australia's Biggest Commercial Camel Dairy

Former West Australian agriculture minister Kim Chance is hoping to tap into demand for camel milk by building a commercial dairy on his property near Dandaragan, north of Perth.

Topics: animals, food-and-beverage, rural, Dandaragan-6507, Australia, WA

MARK COLVIN: The estimated 300,000 wild camels roaming Australia's outback could be the key to a new and possibly profitable industry.

Feral camels play havoc with the environment and are a constant source of frustration for pastoralists. But a former West Australian agriculture minister wants to milk feral camels on his property near Dandaragan, north of Perth.

There is demand for camel milk, but the venture comes with significant challenges.

Lucy Martin has more.

LUCY MARTIN: It's similar to cow's milk, with a slightly salty kick.

Camel milk might not be to everyone's taste, but it's surprisingly popular, and at $25 a litre, it's known as "white gold".

Former West Australian agriculture minister Kim Chance is looking to capitalise on the demand by building Australia's biggest commercial camel dairy on his farm in the state's mid-west.

KIM CHANCE: We're looking at about 220-225 camels lactating at any one time, so that means we would have about 450 camels on the property. All of our financial projections are done on a five litre per day per camel yield.

LUCY MARTIN: That's more 1,000 litres of milk per day.

The camels will be captured from the desert around Laverton and transformed from outback ferals into calm milking machines.

Mr Chance again.

KIM CHANCE: The people that we have linked with have perfected a means of domesticating the camels to the extent that they can be machine milked.

LUCY MARTIN: The company behind the project, Camilk Australia, will sell pasteurised milk direct to customers and in some specialty shops.

Some unpasteurised milk will also be sold, but it must be clearly marked not for human consumption.

Kim Chance again.

KIM CHANCE: We hope we don't have to look to export for some years yet. The scope of the market is obviously something that's going to be proven in time, however we have an extensive database of people who've indicated that they will be clients. And that database is in the thousands.

LUCY MARTIN: Dr Mike Laurence from Murdoch University's College of Veterinary Medicine says setting up a camel dairy will present some significant challenges.

MIKE LAURENCE: Infrastructure has got to be the first one. Building a dairy to accommodate large numbers of large animals such as camels is going to take quite a lot of careful planning.

So just building the facilities is probably one big thing. The second one is managing their reproduction. I mean, getting milk from an animal, a mammal, is about reproduction, so that's something that a lot of people don't have a lot of experience in, is camel reproduction.

And looking after their health, that would be the other key challenge to running this fairly intensive program that's been suggested.

LUCY MARTIN: The United Nations estimates there's more than 200 million potential camel milk customers worldwide, and the industry could eventually be worth $10 billion.

That hasn't gone unnoticed in Australia. One WA company already produces unpasteurised camel milk, while a Queensland company sells pasteurised milk on a small scale.

Dr Laurence says more players in the market means more research and development.

MIKE LAURENCE: What drives research into animal production is where there is a viable industry. So if it looks like camel dairying is going to become one of the emerging industries in our state, then the research dollars will flow. And I think it will be a cycle that feeds on itself.

LUCY MARTIN: The Shire of Dandaragan recently granted planning approval for the dairy, and the next step is for Camilk Australia to secure investors.

Kim Chance again.

KIM CHANCE: We can be in production within two months if everything falls correctly, and if our trigger point on the capital-raising is reached. We're actually very close to that trigger point.

LUCY MARTIN: The other challenge: finding enough camels.

KIM CHANCE: There has been rain in the fringe between the desert and pastoral country, and obviously that's great news for pastoralists, but not great news for us, because it means the camels move further into the desert. And the flow of camels might be a bit intermittent.

LUCY MARTIN: Despite the challenges, Mr Chance is confident the dairy will be underway within two months.

MARK COLVIN: Lucy Martin.

Updated 5 May 2015

Revoke Of Order To Temporary Close A Portion Of Caro Road

REVOKE OF ORDER TO TEMPORARY CLOSE A PORTION OF CARO ROAD FOR MINING PURPOSES FROM APRIL 2015

Location: Caro Road, Cataby

Applicant: Iluka Resources

Folder Path: Business Classification Scheme / Roads / Road Closures / Temporary

Disclosure of Interest: None
Date: 9 June 2015

Author:  Planning Officer

Signature of Author:

Senior Officer:  Manager Planning

Signature of Senior Officer:

PROPOSAL It has come to the attention of staff the closure of a portion of Caro road is not ready to be completed due to Tronox mining camp still requiring access to the road. Council is asked to revoke its decision of 26 March 2015 to close the road from April 2015 and resolve to repeat the public notice period on notification from Iluka Resources once the Tronox camp has commenced relocation.

BACKGROUND At its ordinary meeting 28 August 2014 Council considered an application by Iluka Resources to mine through a portion of Caro Road, Cataby. At its meeting Council resolved to:

That Council commence public notice in accordance with the Local government Act 1995 to close portion of Caro Road, Cataby for the purposes of mining commencing from April 2015 for a period of 10 years.

Following the above process, the proposal was taken back to Council and at its meeting 26 March 2015 Council resolved to:

That Council order the temporary closure of portion of Caro Road, Cataby for the purposes of mining commencing from April 2015 for a period of 10 years or the cessation of mining activities whichever occurs sooner subject to:

1. In pursuance of Section 3.50 of the Local Government Act 1995 the CEO forward a copy of the local public notice to the Commissioner of Main Roads;

2. The applicant arrange alternative access with Fire and Emergency Services;

3. The applicant complies with the requirements of Telstra;

4. The applicant complies with the requirements of Western Power;

5. The applicant liaises with APA group in regards to working in the vicinity of an underground gas pipeline and access arrangements; and

6. On cessation of mining activity within the road reserve, the road is to be restored to the satisfaction of the CEO and at the cost of the applicant.

More Information in the Moora Dandaragan Region Here

It has since been discovered the road cannot be closed due to Tronox mining camp still requiring access to Caro Road and the road cannot be closed until the camp is relocated.

COMMENT To rectify this issue and to re-open the road, Council is requested to revoke its order to close the road. Under the Local Government Act 1995 section 3.50:

(6) An order under this section has effect according to its terms, but may be revoked by the local government, or by the Minister, by order of which local public notice is given. Once the order is revoked, all parties contacted during the consultation period will be notified the order has been revoked and the road is not closed.
All parties will be informed they will be contacted again as part of the normal consultation process when the applicant recommences the proposed road closure on confirmation the Tronox mining camp is in the process of relocating.
When a decision is revoked, the application reverts to any previous planning decision. In this case, the decision of Council at its 28 August 2014 remains:

That Council commence public notice in accordance with the Local government Act 1995 to close portion of Caro Road, Cataby for the purposes of mining commencing from April 2015 for a period of 10 years. At this stage, the date in which the road is to be closed is unknown.

It is recommended that Council resolve to repeat the public notice period to close the road on receipt from the applicant the Tronox camp is to be relocated and the road is now ready to be closed.

CONSULTATION Nil at this stage.

If Council agrees to revoke the order and resolve to repeat the public notice period on receipt from the applicant the Tronox camp is relocated and the road is ready to be closed, the public notice period will recommence in accordance with the Local Government Act 1995 section 3.50.

 STATUTORY ENVIRONMENT Local Government Act 1995 Subdivision 5 — Certain provisions about thoroughfares 3.50.
Closing certain thoroughfares to vehicles

(1a) A local government may, by local public notice, order that a  Doc Id: 51458 thoroughfare that it manages is wholly or partially closed to the passage of vehicles for a period exceeding 4 weeks.

(2) The order may limit the closure to vehicles of any class, to particular times, or to such other case or class of case as may be specified in the order and may contain exceptions.

(3) Deleted

(4) Before it makes an order wholly or partially closing a thoroughfare to the passage of vehicles for a period exceeding 4 weeks or continuing the closure of a thoroughfare, the local government is to:
(a) give local public notice of the proposed order giving details of the proposal, including the location of the thoroughfare and where, when, and why it would be closed, and inviting submissions from any person who wishes to make a submission; and
(b) give written notice to each person who —
(i) is prescribed for the purposes of this section; or
(ii) owns land that is prescribed for the purposes of this section; and
(c) allow a reasonable time for submissions to be made and consider any submissions made.

(5) The local government is to send to the Commissioner of Main Roads appointed under the Main Roads Act 1930 a copy of the contents of the notice required by subsection (4)(a).

(6) An order under this section has effect according to its terms, but may be revoked by the local government, or by the Minister, by order of which local public notice is given.

 POLICY IMPLICATIONS There are no policy implications relevant to this item.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS There are no financial implications relevant to this item.

STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS The Department of Mines and Petroleum has identified this area as a ‘strategic mineral resource protection area’ for titanium-zircon mineralization.

ATTACHMENTS Circulated with the agenda is the following item relevant to this report:
§ Correspondence from Iluka Resources (Doc Id: 52217) (Marked 9.4.5)

VOTING REQUIREMENT Simple majority –
Officer Recommendations 1 & 3
Absolute majority – Officer Recommendation 2  

If Council wishes to revoke the decision of Council passed at the ordinary meeting held 26 March 2015, it is necessary for at least one third of the members (whether vacant or not) of the Council to support consideration of the matter before the motion can be moved (Administration Regulation 10, Local Government Act 1995).

To be successful, the revocation motion must be carried by an absolute majority.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION 1 That Council agree to consider revoking the resolution for item 9.4.2 from the Council meeting of the 26th March 2015.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION 2 That Council’s decision for item 9.4.2 from the Council meeting held 26 March 2015 being:

 “That Council order the temporary closure of portion of Caro Road, Cataby for the purposes of mining commencing from April 2015 for a period of 10 years or the cessation of mining activities whichever occurs sooner subject to:
1. in pursuance of Section 3.50 of the Local Government Act 1995 the CEO forward a copy of the local public notice to the Commissioner of Main Roads;
2. the applicant arrange alternative access with Fire and Emergency Services;
3. the applicant complies with the requirements of Telstra;
4. the applicant complies with the requirements of Western Power;
5. the applicant liaises with APA group in regards to working in the vicinity of an underground gas pipeline and access arrangements; and
6. on cessation of mining activity within the road reserve, the road is to be restored to the satisfaction of the CEO and at the cost of the applicant”.

be revoked.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION 3 That Council re-initiate the public notice in accordance with the Local Government Act 1995 to close portion of Caro Road, Cataby for the purposes of mining for a period of up to 10 years on commencement of the relocation of the Tronox mining camp.