One reason I am so proud to be part of AgForce is the organisation's willingness to fight for the rights not just of members but of the entire community.
The state government has obliged us with a further opportunity to Stand Up for Regional Queensland, yet another astonishing example of its dismissive attitude towards rural communities.
It has developed, in secret, a plan for the Lake Eyre Basin - an area that covers almost a third of Queensland - that will have significant long-term impacts on industries including agriculture and communities across the Channel Country and beyond.
It dropped the announcement on its website the Friday before Christmas hoping most people would be too preoccupied to notice, and then gave the community a month to respond over the holiday period when everyone's mind is elsewhere.
This is just so typical of the way it governs - from the city for the city and with no qualms about excluding from the legislative process the industries, regions and communities its decisions mostly impact.
And this time, it's even more sneaky than usual.
Well, we're not going to let them get away with it.
On behalf of families and communities in the Channel Country, AgForce is going to conduct the consultation that the government should be doing.
We will make sure people living, working and investing in this vast area of the Outback have a voice in their own futures.
I encourage all of you to participate, and not just to ensure this unique ecosystem is protected.
We must demonstrate that the people of rural and regional Queensland WILL be heard, that we can't simply be dismissed because our votes are not perceived by the government to be election-winning.
You can assist:
- Like/follow AgForce on social media.
- Participate in conversations using the hashtag #standup4regQLD.
- Write to your local MP calling on them to Stand Up for their community on important local issues.
- Join AgForce and add your voice to our choir.
Please get behind AgForce as we Stand Up for Regional Queensland.
