Mr Conacher: Salt report misleading and sketchy

Middleton, J.O.G. (1979) Mr Conacher: Salt report misleading and sketchy. 1979. [Publication] [Special Collections]

Request a copy

Summary

The report which led the State Government deciding to discontinue with the Whittington Interceptor Drain Trial at Batalling Creek has come under strong attack from a researcher at the University of Western Australia. Arthur Conacher, head of the university's Department of Geography, said that the report prepared by Professor J.W. Holmes, Professor of Earth Sciences at Flinders University of South Australia, was to be deplored in view of its sketchy treatment of salinity problems in Western Australia. Mr Conacher said that Professor Holmes' three-day visit to Western Australia was inadequate to touch on the topic, querying his independence and background preparation and that he confused the total wheatbelt situation with the Batalling Creek trial site. He has clarified his views in a 48-page report - "Salinity problems in Southwestern Australia: a critical evaluation of the Holmes Report in the Whittington Interceptor Drain Trial". In Mr Conacher's opinion, wheatbelt farmers have been taking the advice of professional engineers and scientists in the Department of Agriculture since 1938, and failed over the years to solve the salt problem. Professor Holmes clearly assumed that advise given by WISALTS to disillusioned farmers was bad.

PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to provide a public view of this newspaper article as the copyright is held by the publisher.

If you would like to obtain a copy of this newspaper article for research purposes, please ‘request a copy'.

This article is part of the WISALTS (Whittington Interceptor Sustainable Agriculture Land Treatment Society Incorporated) Collection.

Item Type:	Special Collections
Collection:	WISALTS Collection
Copyright:	©1979
Notes:	1 newspaper clipping
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/57245

Item Control Page