Fresh call to dump laws
FEDERAL Labor would dump their plan to impose more restrictions on how farmers manage their land if they were serious about supporting the development of northern Australia, a peak representative body for Queensland farmers said.
AgForce’s call comes after Federal Shadow Minister for Agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon told the recent Northern Australia Food Futures Conference in Darwin there was no area of public policy more deserving of bipartisanship than agriculture and the development of northern Australia.
AgForce Queensland CEO Michael Guerin said the Shadow Minister’s comments contrasted starkly with Federal Labor’s proposal to introduce a new vegetation management “trigger” in Australia’s national environment law.
“Demand for our high quality food and fibre is on the rise but we need the right policy settings from governments at all levels if we are to take full advantage of emerging opportunities from a growing Asia to our north,” Mr Guerin said.
“With the Palaszczuk Labor Government passing laws this year that make it harder for Queensland farmers to grow food and shut down new agricultural development opportunities, the last thing we need is for Federal Labor to impose more red tape on our industry.
“The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act needs to be streamlined, not made more complicated for farmers, and that’s exactly what the current independent review is seeking to achieve.”