Jan Davis, TFGA CEO on party policies: It’s like herding cats …

I promised you a summary of the parties’ responses to the TFGA’s priorities for agricultural policies at the federal level … and I have to report back that it was like herding cats: no response, late responses, irrelevant responses, national rather than Tasmanian responses.

You have to wonder whether some of these people actually want to be taken seriously.
(Shakes head, continues typing.)

Let me remind you of the issues we put out there as priorities for Tasmanian farmers:

ensuring that Tasmanian agriculture is on the national agenda
a demonstrable improvement in investment in research, development and extension by 2015
increasing Tasmanian agriculture’s competitiveness by reducing regulation;
encouraging our environmental stewardship (which we currently do at our own cost) with appropriate funding
making the Bass Strait freight task more efficient.

The Tasmanian perspective has to be drawn from the various national agricultural policies and the specific responses, where we received them, to Tasmanian concerns.

We said that we would not tell farmers how to vote tomorrow; and we won’t. However, we’re happy to share information about the responses we received. Realistically, only the Coalition or Labor can form government in the House of Representatives; other parties might well hold the balance of the power in the Senate then their policies may come into play as part of a negotiated outcome. So the summary below covers only the policy responses from the three mainstream parties. It may also not be complete – promises were flying so thick and fast that there’s no guarantee we captured all of them. The National Farmers Federation has developed a scorecard rating the policy position of the three larger parties – you can find it on their website click here

The responses we received from Tasmanian candidates are available in their entirety on our website. We haven’t edited them or changed them in any way – so they represent the candidates’ views in their own words. I encourage you have a look at what they had to say before heading off to the ballot box tomorrow.

Political campaigning in this last week of the election has been appallingly unedifying. Candidates from major parties have been flitting from electorate to electorate chucking handfuls of money and promises as they go. These measures have almost without exception been reactive rather than strategic, and have born the hallmark of a last minute panic to win or keep marginal seats. In talking to people across the state, it has been clear that most view these announcements with a degree of scepticism: there’s an expectation that, no matter what has been promised before the election, delivery after the dust clears is unlikely to be a given.

Whatever the outcome on Saturday, let’s hope that the elected government can settle down quickly to addressing the issues that affect all of us in a considered, consultative and strategic way. Nobody benefits from the continual knee-jerk ‘gotcha’ politics we’ve seen over recent times; and nobody wins from the cynicism and disconnectedness that this approach has generated across the community.

ALP –

Plan for Tasmania
food and grocery code of conduct
standardised supply contracts for produce
foreign ownership of land register, with FIRB review level dropped to $15m
$10 million productivity assistance for Simplot growers; $18 million for Simplot plant and other improvements
$14.75 million for the Southern Highlands Irrigation Scheme
$40 million freight efficiency program
Food and Agricultural Careers Plan
Deliver $100 million Tasmanian Jobs and Growth Plan

Coalition –

Economic Growth Plan for Tasmania
White Paper on agricultural competitiveness
fruit and vegetable industry growth plan
$100 million boost to R&D investment
$20 million to strengthen biosecurity and quarantine including biosecurity flying squad
$16 million for Cadbury factory upgrade
red and green tape audit across the agricultural sector
one-stop shop for environmental approvals
Productivity Commission inquiry into Tasmanian freight task
Foreign Investment Review Board overhaul

Greens –

$300 million boost for R&D spending
$76.5 million for 180 extension officers
$75 million to national soil health strategy
link farmers and their communities by helping farmers sell direct to the public, strengthening local food systems
$100 million to help farmers make the switch to renewable energy
ban on foreign governments and supermarkets buying agricultural land
reform competition policy to curb supermarket power
fund environmental stewardship by farmers
expanded kitchen gardens program
better country of origin labelling
ban live exports and establish office of animal welfare
foreign ownership of land register, with FIRB review level dropped to $5m