Minister on the pig trail

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile was in Tully in far-north Queensland inspecting rainforest, and cane and banana plantations and to see the damage caused by feral pigs.

The Minister toured the area with ARF contractor Paul Smith of local company, Boar Busters before promising to spend $15 million to help eradicate feral animals in the region.

"In many parts of Australia, agricultural country is being devastated by drought," Mr Vaile told local media

"The impact of feral animals is actually even worse so we need to work with our farming communities to put in place plans that can deal with them."

The Minister said that some of the money will go towards improving technology for killing feral animals while $6 million will be available for community grants. The Minister was delighted to see a sub adult cassowary during his trip.