Landholder anger at proposed vegetation management laws reaches crescendo

The protests in five regional centres will coincide with the five Parliamentary committee hearings being held over three days this week, and anyone concerned about Queensland's economic future and the ability of farmers to keep producing food has been urged to come along and show their support.

AgForce general president, Grant Maudsley, said a groundswell of anger was building over the proposed changes.

"These laws are the worst of both worlds,” he said. “The Palaszczuk government will make it harder for farmers to grow food and they won't deliver the best environmental outcomes either.

"At a time when global demand for our great food and fibre is at all-time high, these laws will shut down new agricultural development opportunities in Queensland.”

It’s a similar message coming from CANEGROWERS, who will have members lining up beside AgForce members in Townsville at midday on Tuesday to march on the office of a local MP, with chairman Paul Schembri stating they needed to make their voices heard in the towns and cities.

“This is an issue that cuts to the heart of food production and economic development in regional areas,” he said, calling out government double standards.

“On the one hand the government is telling growers that the future holds exciting opportunities for sugarcane to contribute to green energy and biofutures industries and help feed a growing world population.

“But on the other hand, it is knobbling our ability to get the most production we can from the land we own and farm to take advantage of these opportunities.”

Mr Maudsley said farmers just wanted fair and workable laws to grow more food, create jobs and look after their environment without being strangled in red tape.

“It's pretty simple - if farmers can't feed their own families, they can't feed yours.

"We're calling on the Queensland Parliament to reject these flawed laws and instead work with those most affected by the changes to come up with a long-lasting solution that delivers good outcomes for both agriculture and the environment.”

The week of direct action will include:

In its submission to a review of the proposed amendments to the Vegetation Management Act, CANEGROWERS also pointed out that sugar mills were offering incentives to growers to put in more cane to keep their operations viable.

“Abolishing the provisions that allow clearing for High Value Agriculture and Irrigated High Value Agriculture and deeming any regrowth over 15 years as High Value cuts through the rights of farmers to make decisions to farm their land in the way they best see fit,” Mr Schembri said.

“We need a sensible balance between the environmental sustainability and agricultural production – these amendments fail to do that.”

CANEGROWERS members are registering to appear before the Townsville and Cairns hearings of the State Development, Natural Resources and Agricultural Industry Development Committee.