January 21, 2015
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington says should Labor win the upcoming State Election – or “fall over the line” with the help of minor parties and independents – primary producers in Queensland will suffer.
She said she was extremely proud of several key initiatives which the State Government had introduced, including:
- Introducing vegetation laws which gave farmers back their rights to manage their own vegetation
- Rolling leases for leaseholders, giving greater security of tenure for graziers
- Waiving fees for farmers when changing between the different types of farming and irrigation tariffs
- Forming an “Agriculture Energy Council” to tackle the issue of electricity costs in the ag sector
- Support for agricultural research, with a renewed commitment to the Research Station in Kingaroy
- Ongoing drought support through QRAA
“I really want to highlight how many good outcomes there have been for our primary producers, and emphasise that under a Labor government, these changes would be repealed,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“If Labor should win, or happen to fall over the line with the help of minor parties and independents, agriculture will seriously suffer.”
“It is highly likely that they would scrap the Department of Agriculture and return to the ‘super departments’ of the past.
“About the last thing farm industries need at the moment is for agriculture to be swallowed up in one of Labor’s mega-bureaucracies with no direction and no leadership.
“Plus, we know Labor have announced they would repeal the Vegetation Laws, meaning we’d go back to the disastrous laws which had such a negative effect on our farmers.”
She said the Labor Party had also confirmed it would also scrap the Royalties for the Regions program, which has injected nearly $25 million into the Nanango Electorate to improve infrastructure.
