Jeremy Rockliff: Government supporting farmers and cutting green tape

The Liberal Government is committed to supporting Tasmania’s farmers grow the value of the agricultural sector in Tasmania tenfold to $10 billion per year by 2050.

Achieving this growth requires us to support our farmers, and not place unnecessary hurdles in their way.

One of the many challenges facing our farmers is the significant pasture and crop losses caused by some of our abundant wildlife – particularly wallabies and possums.

The Labor-Green Government, through its failed Tasmania Together experiment, set an arbitrary target to ban the use of 1080 for browsing animal control in 2015.

Imposing a ban on the use of 1080, without an alternative would have severe consequences for some of our farmers.

My announcement gives confidence to farmers that it is business as usual. We are not implementing the ban that the previous Government was determined to introduce next year.

While we believe that we should look at ways to reduce the use of 1080, this government will not phase out its use until such time as a viable, safe and cost effective alternative becomes available.

Our Government is committed to working with farmers, the TFGA and other groups in providing advice on the range of options to manage browsing damage.

This is further proof that this Government supports agriculture and it supports our farmers.
Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Primary Industries and Water