But Mr Martin said it was “an impractical and dysfunctional joke” that did not give the immediate assistance required.
NSW Farmers say the bill for the mouse plague might top $1 billionCredit:NSW Farmers
Without action,he said the crisis could go on for two years.
“NSW Farmers has consistently said the simplest,safest and most timely way for the state government to assist farmers would be through providing rebates of up to $25,000 per farm business to cover 50 per cent of the cost of zinc phosphide bait,” he said.
“We just want the $50 million on the table to be distributed to households,shopkeepers and farmers.
“People are not coping.”
The state government’s assistance package included free treatment of grain for use as house bait on the perimeter of paddocks. But use of the chemical bromadiolone is dependent on Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority approval which could still be weeks away.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday said she had no plan to specifically tour the mice plague areas.
“The good news for the Premier is soon she won’t have to travel far ... because we’re getting reports of mice and rats arriving in Sydney,” Mr Martin said.
The government funded Mouse Alert website indicates reported sightings have doubled since March 31 and a growing number of mice are being sighted in and around Sydney.
But ecologists last week dismissed fears the plague was heading for cities.
Plague-level breeding has only been triggered in rural areas by a combination of a bumper grain crop,good rains after a break in the drought and a run of mild weather,they say.
“It would not be possible for there to be a plague in our urban areas,” Curtin University ecologist associate professor Bill Bateman said.
“There was another[rural] mouse plague as recently as 2011 and that didn’t happen. I don’t see it happening,the rural plague is bad enough we don’t need to worry about urban areas as well.”
Ms Berejiklian said the government was extremely concerned about the situation but had experts advising it on how it could be mitigated.
“We’ve obviously announced recently a support package to help farmers in that regard but if there’s anything further we need to do,we will. We’re taking advice constantly,” she said.
“I’m told the colder months are going to assist,so we are welcoming those cooler temperatures in those locations where the plague’s been particularly bad. But we’re also considering what we need to do over the course of the next few months and the next 12 months for that matter.”