This Saturday marks the end of a mind numbing, marathon eight-week Federal election campaign to decide who will run our country for the next three years.
For those of us who live and work on the land, how the parties’ policies impact on agriculture is a crucial consideration in determining how we vote.
Over the past two months, there have been some positive announcements for regional and rural Australia, with one of the highlights an extra $60 million for the Mobile Blackspot Program announced by the Coalition and matched by Labor.
There’s also been some welcome commitments made for new water and road infrastructure, pest management, and research and development that should deliver benefits for the agricultural sector.
But perhaps the biggest issue in the bush at the moment is vegetation management, and Federal Labor’s public commitment to override the states to introduce tougher restrictions is perhaps the most ridiculous and ill-conceived policy announcement of the campaign.
While Federal Labor’s announcement is very much about green politics, it also highlights the lack of understanding surrounding the science of carbon emissions from land use change in Queensland.
Regardless of which party takes power on the weekend, this is an issue agriculture is going to have to confront moving forward.
The unfair laws Labor wants to impose on farmers have completely overshadowed any positives in their ‘plan for agriculture and regional Australia’.
Farmers are sick and tired of being attacked over vegetation management every time there is an election. It’s just not on.
The anger about this single issue in regional Queensland is absolutely palpable, and Labor could and should pay the price for their short-sighted policy at the ballot box in seats like Capricornia, Herbert, Dawson, Flynn and Leichhardt.
We’re not asking for everything, we’re just asking for ‘fair laws for farmers’ so we can get on with the job of producing high quality food and fibre for Australia and the rest of the world.
