Rules restrict farmers
FARMERS are by far the best managers we have for agricultural land.
Their very existence depends on sustainable use in all areas, from cropping to water storage and use, pesticides, fertilisers and tree clearing.
If they muck things up, they personally take a hit to their income and livelihoods, potentially for years into the future, so they tend to manage their land sensibly.
So I am annoyed that the Queensland Parliament has seen fit to knock back laws that would have allowed farmers to make better use of the mulga growing wild on their properties.
Mulga sucks up the water, it thrives in the dry, so it makes sense to use what is a sustainable, nutritious and plentiful plant to keep cattle fed and alive, particularly during drought.
In a bizarre rule, farmers who desperately need fodder to feed their cattle have limited rights to harvest their mulga, and if they break the rules they face hefty fines, which has already happened in far too many cases.
The Queensland Labor Government vegetation management laws restrict farmers to harvesting only 50 per cent of mulga trees on their properties only once every 10 years.
This is in spite of the fact that mulga regenerates quickly and the need for the feed might be a matter of life and death.
This anomaly was made very clear to me during my Drought Tour of western Queensland late last year, which I did along with Bob Katter MP.
At the time, I called for the Labor Government to lift the tight restrictions on mulga to help our farmers.
But the call continues to fall on deaf ears.
In my view, there is no logical reason why the mulga should be locked up on Queensland’s farms.
Allowing the harvesting will help the farmers, it will reduce the need for public donations for fodder during drought, and it will help make agriculture – and Queensland as a whole – more prosperous.
The virus crisis has shown us we must work together and be more serious if we are to achieve food security and selfsufficiency.
The Labor Government needs to show leadership and drop these needless harvesting restrictions so farmers can get on and do what they need to do, and make a fair living.
Believe it or not, the farmers are actually more skilled at managing their land than the bureaucrats in Brisbane.
Let them actually manage without such silly restrictions. PAULINE HANSON, Senator for Queensland, Leader of One Nation.