QFF President Stuart Armitage

July 22, 2016

The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has welcomed a Productivity Commission draft report that has called for a return to evidence-based regulation of agriculture.

The QFF says the Productivity Commission report on the ‘Regulation of Australian Agriculture’ identified what agricultural industry members have been saying for a long time: that the number and complexity of regulations at every stage of the supply chain heavily impact the sector’s productivity and competitiveness.

QFF President Stuart Armitage said duplication across governments, inconsistency, redundancy of regulation and the cumulative burden of regulations across the sector must be addressed for Queensland agriculture to realize its potential.

“Queensland farmers do not dispute the necessity and worth of regulations on farm business practices,” Mr Armitage said.

“The industry does, however, expect the rationale and justification for these regulations be based in evidence and on a realistic understanding of community values.

“It is clear from the Commission’s draft report that the current heavy regulatory model imposed on Queensland farmers falls short of this, and is having a significant and disproportionate impact on farm businesses.”

Mr Armitage said QFF support a number of the draft recommendations in principle, including:

  • Evidence and risk-based reforms to native vegetation and biodiversity regulation
  • Market-based approaches to recognize the environmental services landholders provide to the community
  • Improving the way governments engage with landholders about environmental regulations
  • Expediting implementation of a national control-of-use regime for agricultural and veterinary chemicals that is based on evidence and risk
  • Ensuring that the requirements for moving oversized agricultural machinery are proportionate to the risks involved.

The draft report highlighted the uncertainly ongoing changes to regulation creates in the agricultural sector – with particular reference to the fluctuations in native vegetation management in Queensland – and how this can unnecessarily restrict farm management decisions and reduce investment.

Mr Armitage said the QFF and its industry members would continue to work constructively with all levels of government to reduce ineffective red and green tape to ensure the potential across Queensland agriculture was realized.


 

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