Labor: Joyce silence on defence land acquisition “deafening”

Last week Mr Fitzgibbon met with landowners and other residents concerned about the Turnbull government’s proposed land acquisition, due to expanded military training facilities as part of a multi-billion dollar agreement with the Singaporean government.

He was joined in Rockhampton last week by Queensland Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne, local state Senator Murray Watt and state MP Brittany Lauga where they attacked the Coalition’s handling of the defence land grab.

Mr Fitzgibbon said he was now “aware of the gravity of the situation” with land holders in the region which was “very disappointing”.

He said the Turnbull Government must be held to account for not declaring its intentions on the land-grab, prior to last year’s federal election.

“Clearly they knew what this process would entail,” he said.

“They announced the funding for the training area but decided not to share their secret with landholders who are potentially affected by what the landholders themselves have described as a land grab.

“Second, the government has failed to undertake any consultation with these people.

“Of course Defence has written to them and in some cases may have spoken with them - but we need political leadership here in what is obviously a very delicate situation.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said he and the other ALP members were prepared to be the voice of farmers on behalf of landholders, if federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and local Nationals MP Michelle Landry were not prepared to do so.

He said they had organised a formal briefing from the Defence Minister Marise Payne and made personal contact with her, with Labor defence spokesperson Richard Marles having written, formally asking for a briefing.

“We want to see the validity of the expansion,” he said.

“As a former Defence Minister myself, I understand these issues very well and understand the critical importance of training areas and the opportunities available to expand them particularly if that is given to strengthen relationships with our near partners.

“But the government hasn’t explained the need in detail nor has it explained why this is the only option available to us in terms of the expansion.

“I think landholders here at the very least deserve some explanation and certainly some consultation.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said Mr Joyce “really does need to get himself up here and out to farmers and landholders and those potentially affected so he can better understand and appreciate their concerns”.

“So far his silence on this issue has been deafening,” he said.

“If he is not prepared to be their voice in Canberra, I am certainly prepared to be that voice.”

This week, National Farmers’ Federation CEO Tony Mahar said his group also wanted to hear and learn about Mr Joyce’s views on the issue, given it would ultimately be destined for cabinet considerations later this year after the government received the KPMG study of social and economic impacts.

Mr Mahar said Ms Payne had stated Mr Joyce had committed to visiting the impacted area in the next couple of weeks to meet with farmers and related businesses.

But Mr Joyce’s office was repeatedly contacted for comment over the last week and has not yet responded to those requests.

Labor’s criticisms came as the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) also visited Charters Towers last week and Rockhampton yesterday, to join forces with local businesses and graziers to aid a fight back against the potential compulsory acquisition of productive farm land.

About 60 landholders are under pressure in Central Queensland due to the compulsory acquisition of up to 300,000 hectares of farm land for defence training purposes.

Mr Mahar has also warned the issue represents an inconsistency in the government’s approach to land use policy for agriculture, with similar tenants to protecting landholders’ rights on mining or native vegetation.

He has also highlighted concerns about the government’s inability to rule out compulsory land acquisition as the Department of Defence examines options via strategic social and economic analysis that’s due to be tabled in four weeks’ time.

The NFF boss also hasn’t ruled out using the Australian Farmers' Fighting Fund that provides financial, legal and professional assistance to farmers facing major issues that set legal precedents.

The Fund has been used to help spur recent farmer legal battles like the class action claim against the Commonwealth government for damages caused by the snap ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia by the Gillard Labor government, in mid-2011.

Mr Mahar said the NFF would launch a new campaign aimed at communicating to the broader public the fears of farmers threatened by the federal government’s potential compulsory land acquisition.

“Until we get certainty around the threat of compulsory acquisition, the anxiety and fears of landowners are still there,” he said.

Mr Mahar said Ms Payne told stakeholders at this week’s meeting in Rockhampton they had an opportunity to engage in the KPMG’s assessment process while the NFF had written to her, asking for its terms of reference.

He said they wanted to ensure the analysis included consideration of potential social and economic impacts “right across the beef supply chain” and not just those limited to Townsville, Rockhampton or Marlborough.

“These are vibrant communities and we want them to stay vibrant so we’ll be looking at the impacts on not only agriculture but broader community areas like schools and associated businesses that feed into the agricultural supply chain; pardon the pun,” he said.

“That’s what we want to see and that the government takes full consideration of what those impacts will be.

“The industry is opposed to compulsory acquisition and the government has got to come up with alternatives.

“Is there land for sale that doesn’t require compulsory acquisition?

“These are some of the alternatives we need to hear the government is considering.”

Ms Payne said it was “very important” organisations and businesses in the community participated strongly in the KPMG socio-economic study.

But Ms Lauga said local people were concerned about the possible impact of job losses at the local meat-works and other flow on, cumulative impacts in terms of rural services and agri-business.

“We are talking about, at a conservative estimate, 50,000 head of cattle being removed out of the supply chain here in central Queensland,” she said.

“That is substantial in terms of the amount of work that would take out of the local meat works and that means the loss of local jobs, so certainly this is one of my greatest concerns.

“The LNP and Michelle Landry spruiked a billion Defence spend at the last federal election but they didn’t come clean about what this billion dollar spending would entail.”

 Mr Fitzgibbon said the defence land acquisition should have declared prior to the last election by Mr Joyce.

But Senator Canavan said Labor was “exploiting” the issue and had inconsistent policies on property rights impacting farmers.

“I’d be the first to congratulate the Opposition if they reversed their stance on native vegetation policy and making life harder for farmers,” he said.

In Rockhampton yesterday, Senator Canavan said the government’s intentions had been communicated “openly and transparently” but he recognised, “there has been anxiety created by that”.

“The only other option to doing that would have been to announce something without any consultation and without any information provided to people,” he said.

“I think we’re going to have a much better outcome here by taking into account the views and issues that have been put forward, both at Marlborough a couple of weeks ago, here today and in 170-odd meetings that Defence have had with landowners both here and in North Queensland.”

Mr Canavan said the multi-billion dollar deal involving Singapore was also a major investment in the local region and “we should not forget”.

“While the Labor Party have been cynically and shamefully taking advantage of this process, they have no plan for our region,” he said.

“They are taking advantage of this because they are trying to distract from the fact that they have no plans for Central Queensland.

“The question has to be put back to them – what exactly are their plans to create jobs and help our economy get back on track?”

Ms Payne said overall, it was a “very difficult” and “very complex” process.

“It’s a very significant undertaking to plan across a 25 year agreement and it’s a very significant undertaking to plan across the size of the investment that we’re looking at,” she said.

“There will be people who won’t always be happy in that context and I respect that and very much heard their views today.

“Training the Australian military for the twenty-first century and for the new acquisitions which we are bringing online and engaging with our Singaporean partners is important, both in military-terms and in relationship-terms.

“I think the economic contribution which will be made to this part of Queensland is one which otherwise would not occur and I know from my colleagues that jobs and some certainty around investment are very important in this area.

“I will ensure that we – Defence – make sure we are engaging with local businesses as much as possible.”

Ms Landry welcomed the Defence Minister announcing she had ordered her department to bring forward its business case analysis of the Shoalwater Bay expansion from later this year to within the next four weeks.

“This will provide a clearer picture, more clarity and certainty for landowners by identifying exactly what footprint defence intends to make in the area,” she said.

“Landowners had earlier been calling for a more defined timeframe.

“The Minister also strongly stated that she has told Defence that any impact on productive agricultural land should be kept as minimal as possible.”