In late December 2015, the Australian Government called for applicants to deliver the Reef Trust Phase III, a $56 million program scheduled to be delivered by June 2019. The phase III project is set to deliver results in better farm management and practices impacting on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) on over 1441 properties across 2,118,770 ha. Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has taken a lead role in the combined industry, regional NRM bodies and WWF project proposal under the Reef Alliance (RA) banner.
The Reef Alliance project is a balanced and integrated GBR wide approach to advance farmer practices beyond industry BMP and fast track the implementation of innovative practices.
The Reef Trust Phase III program has three main components: improving grazing land management to reduce erosion losses to the Reef; supporting cane farmers to move beyond industry best practice for nutrient, irrigation, pesticide and soil management; and maintaining water quality improvement momentum in reef catchment grains, dairy and horticulture industries.
QFF is well placed to deliver this project; and has developed the core capacity, networks and alliances across industry, regional bodies and government to coordinate the delivery of outcomes crucial for the future sustainability and viability of Queensland’s intensive agriculture sectors.
The RA project members include QFF, Cape York NRM, Terrain NRM, NQ Dry Tropics, Burnett Mary Regional Group, Fitzroy Basin Association, CANEGROWERS, Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation, AgForce, Growcom, Australian Banana Growers’ Council, Regional Groups Collective, and WWF.
The RA members collectively have decades of skills, experience and knowledge across all industries, GBR catchments, Reef science and water quality and practice change programs. The members have collectively delivered 8 years of successful reef water quality programs.
The RA project governance framework, developed and endorsed by project members, has appointed QFF to act on their behalf for this application. QFF’s appointment as a lead agency to administer the project on behalf of the RA would have a direct contract and reporting to the Australian Government. The QFF lead agency role will ensure efficiency and significant cost savings for Government and a strong integrated governance model. The governance framework puts landholders at the centre of Reef Trust Phase III and recognises that RA members and delivery partners are the enablers of practice change.
QFF are confident in the RA proposal as it places industry and NRM organisations who are best placed to consolidate and adapt BMP. BMP is critical to ongoing implementation and benchmarking of practice change, continuous improvement and integration of new validated practices.
This project brings together the most critical organisations capable of influencing landholder and industry practices, enabling continuous improvement and supporting innovation. It is for these reasons that QFF are both confident and excited at this opportunity to make a significant positive impact of agricultural impact on the GBR. QFF not only see this project proposal as strategically rewarding, but also a chance to do its part in preserving the reef for generations to come. Only QFF and its project members can deliver the real results government and community expect in resolving agriculture’s impact on the reef. – Stuart Armitage, QFF president
