Through the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, the state’s farmers have spent the best part of 2013 taking governments on trust; either you accept their word that they are going to do something or you credit them with sufficient intelligence and sense of decency to do the right thing by the men and women on the land, the most productive element in the economy.
There were two major highlights in our dealings with government this year:
• The government’s praiseworthy and stoic support of the statewide irrigation program, a true public/private partnership in which farmers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars from their own pockets; and
• the outpouring of support for farmers affected by the January bushfires was matched by the government’s generosity and willingness to work around normally challenging situations.
Apart from that, the year was memorable mainly for the instances in which farmers were yet again dudded.
The Tasmanian Forestry Agreement still leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. As operators of the state’s vast private forest estate (880,000 ha), we were left out on the proverbial limb. Despite our warnings, farmers were hung out to dry by the government of the day, their Green colleagues and by the unelected people anointed to sit around a negotiating table to sort out our industry, when we were the ones with real skin in the game.
It still galls us today. Farmers don’t take kindly to the patronising pat on the head and being told to go away, everything will be all right, we’ll look after you, don’t worry your pretty little heads. It just doesn’t happen – there are simply too many vested interests at play here.
It will be to the former federal Labor government’s eternal shame that they conned UNESCO into locking up more of Tasmania’s landmass under the pretence of a ‘minor’ boundary extension to the existing World Heritage Area. Even worse, neither government has yet had the common decency to notify adjoining landholders personally of their changed neighbours.
At the last state election, both major parties went to the polls on a platform of supporting a restructured forestry industry. With more than 80% of the resulting vote, we could have been forgiven for expecting a more evidence-based outcome, especially for the private forests sector. However, it was not to be. The recent federal election result in Tasmania shows exactly what the majority of Tasmanians thought of that.
This year, state and federal governments discovered we are living in the Asian Century, 13 years into it. This is despite the fact that Tasmanian farmers have been exporting beef, dairy, fruit, vegetables, seafood, flowers etc of the highest quality to the region for decades. Tasmanian farmers know the Asian potential.
I mean, hello, governments are supposed to be ahead of the game, not playing catch up.
The state government and the Greens have opted this year to pursue social reform legislation, usually doomed from the start, to establish the milestones of their administration. The rest of us have been urging more concrete economic initiatives to try to drive economic growth and wealth creation.
There seems to be a culture in Tasmania that others know what is best for us; that if we sit at our desks, button our lips and pay attention to Big Brother, all will be resolved. Clearly, it’s not working.
Well, let me tell you, we have learned our lessons – and things are going to change in 2014..
We will expect and demand that governments deliver programs and regulatory regimes that have the best outcomes for agriculture, the mainstay of the Tasmanian economy. We want Big Brother off our backs; so that we get on with what we do best, producing world class food and fibre.
We will not take any political party at its word this time. We want an accord, a contract, a memorandum of understanding, a pledge – whatever you want to call it – with each of them so that farmers know where they stand come the ballot box and they can hold the incoming government to account.
Watch this space.
In the spirit of the festive season, let me close by saying thanks. Thanks for your patience in reading (or not) these rants each week; thanks to the many of you who have rung or emailed and expressed support; and thanks to those of you who may disagree, but have taken the time to have a reasoned discussion about why.
May you have a safe and enjoyable time with your families at Christmas – even if there are cows to be milked or irrigation systems to be shifted and turned on and off. And may 2014 bring a brighter future for us all.
