Campaign against vegetation laws ramping up

Over the past month, the Agriculture and Environment Committee has held hearings in Cairns, Townsville, Emerald, Bundaberg and Gympie, with more hearings planned for today in Charleville and Roma, and in Brisbane tomorrow.

I’d like to again thank all those who took the time to have their say by either putting in a written submission or giving evidence in person at one of the public hearings.

The committee should now be in absolutely no doubt how rural Queenslanders feel about laws that will stifle regional development, cost jobs and make farmers guilty until they prove their innocence.

In compiling their report to Parliament, I would urge the committee to think very carefully about what they saw and heard from rural landholders on property visits and in public hearings.

I would hope they think about the ‘forgotten people’ like Cynthia Sabag near Tully and Colin and Noeleen Ferguson near Charter Towers who so passionately gave evidence at hearings in Cairns and Townsville about how these unfair laws had and would affect them.

The fight doesn’t begin and end with the committee process though, especially as we are now fighting this issue at multiple levels with Federal Labor also saying they want tougher vegetation management restrictions.

As I have travelled around the state, I’ve heard repeated and consistent calls for more action to ensure all Queenslanders understand what these debilitating laws will do to farmers and how it will harm regional communities.

AgForce will respond to these calls and we are considering a range of options for direct action and media campaigns.

It’s important that we get the message across that farmers are the true environmentalists.

We all need to work together to ensure our friends in the city are better informed about what the Palaszczuk Government's vegetation management laws will mean for those in the bush.

The fight against these unfair laws isn’t over, it’s only just begun.