Alannah takes agriculture

Premier Mark McGowan announced Ms MacTiernan as the minister in the new Labor government last week and she was officially sworn into the role on Friday.

She will also oversee Regional Development and be the Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade.

WAFarmers president Tony York said it was good to see Ms MacTiernan's other roles would support the agriculture industry.

"We are encouraged by her taking on the position, especially that she has also taken on Regional Development, Jobs and Trade," Mr York said.

"With 80 per cent of Western Australian agricultural produce being exported, it is fantastic to have the minister responsible for jobs and trade.

"This provides an avenue for the government to explore new trade partners, while bolstering the relationship with existing markets."

"We will be in a good position to increase the profitability of the sector, while making rural areas of WA an attractive place to work and live," he said.

Mr York said Ms MacTiernan's experience in federal politics put her in a fantastic position to advocate the strength of the WA agricultural sector on a State, national and international platform.

"She has a strong awareness about agriculture and its export focus - so it could be a good fit," Mr York said.

"Working with regional development, she might be able to better co-ordinate Royalties for Regions funding and securing funding within the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA)."

There was no secret that consolidated funding of DAFWA had diminished and staff levels slashed to 900 in the past five years.

Mr York hoped Ms MacTiernan would bring confidence to DAFWA and continue its strong biosecurity and research and development focus.

"We need to protect agriculture and the State to maintain its clean, green image," he said.

"WA Labor government made a commitment to the Boyanup Saleyards and livestock facility, we will take them up on that.

"They also made commitments to support the Euan Ferguson review of the country fire service - we will take that to Alannah."

Mr York said he was not concerned about the future of live export from WA.

"The WA Labor government and Premier Mark McGowan had shown some interest in developing an outer harbour in Kwinana," he said.

"The party has committed to supporting it, so I don't think there is an issue there."

He said Ms MacTiernan had already demonstrated she was a great advocate for WA in many forums.

"We look forward to working alongside her as we strive to make the primary production sectors in WA more profitable over what WAFarmers identifies to be as an exciting time for agriculture," he said.

Mr York was hopeful his group would meet the new minister very soon.

On the agenda will be its 'priority and wish list' and Labor's pre-election commitments.

"We hope to see her in the next few weeks - but we have to wait and see," he said.

Meetings with other ministers, including Dave Kelly (Water) and Rita Saffioti (Lands) will also be planned.

Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) president Tony Seabrook said Ms MacTiernan was a "robust and powerful performer".

"She has a track record of getting things done," he said.

"We hope she will be a minister for agriculture, advocating on our behalf on all occasions."

Mr Seabrook said while some members of industry had expressed concerns over her previous reservations about live export, animal welfare was a priority.

"If ESCAS (Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System) performs and is a guarantee that the animals will be looked after with care to the point of slaughter, she has said she could live with it," Mr Seabrook said.

"She said that and I endorse that, no one wants ESCAS not to perform at its absolute best.

"If the minister is prepared to support live export on the basis that ESCAS works, as it should, we can't ask for more than that.

"We will be then be asking the minister to seriously get live export into the outer harbour - that's our single biggest request."

Mr Seabrook said at Ms MacTiernan's first convenience, the PGA wished to discuss genetically modified crops in the hope that she would embrace it.

He said there could be challenges with the new Lands Minister, believing Ms Saffioti didn't have a wealth of experience.

"She has been a capable performer on behalf of the Labor party," Mr Seabrook said.

"We just hope she will come on board with the changes to the legislation, that former minister Terry Redman was proposing, in an acceptable way for the pastoral industry to move forward.

"The PGA board met on Friday and we are keen to meet with Ms Saffioti as soon as possible, to explain the view of the pastoralists and what will bring prosperity to the Rangelands."

"We hope the new minister will have a new approach and bring the industry forward."