The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) has welcomed the release of the Federal Government’s long-awaited Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper.

The paper was unveiled at the National Farmer’s Federation Congress by Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP, in Canberra earlier this week.

The paper identifies nine key policy principles, including reducing unnecessary regulation at all levels of government, maintaining access for all Australians to high-quality and affordable fresh food, infrastructure for the 21st century and greater returns to the farm gate.

The Green Paper is heading in the right direction with its attempt to stop unjustified over-regulation.

In our submission earlier this year, the TFGA called for an end to burdensome regulations at all levels of Government.

Farmers simply can’t continue to absorb the excess costs that result. It will put paid to our capacity to drive much needed growth for Tasmania.

The TFGA has also emphasised the importance of the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES) to the State’s farmers.

There is no road across Bass Strait; that is what needs to be remembered when future infrastructure decisions are being made. It is vital that the TFES is maintained to ensure that Tasmanian farmers can continue to compete with their counterparts in other states.

The Green Paper has also committed the federal government to consider plans to build more dams and fund extra irrigation projects across the country.

Mr Joyce said many submissions to the Green Paper raised the issue of securing water supplies for agriculture.

“I think the Prime Minister has made it quite clear that we shouldn’t have a ‘dam phobia’, to use his lexicon.

“There are always going to be people who just don’t like the idea of progress, don’t like the idea of dams, who don’t like the idea of roads,” Mr Joyce said.

“In fact, if they had their way, they don’t like the idea of us being on the land. That’s a great idea to have if you want to go broke.
“If you want to security, you’ve got to build the capital that brings about that security. And dams do that.”

New dam projects will be paid for by a mix of private funds and government money. This is the model that has been successfully used in Tasmania to deliver development of water infrastructure over the past few years.

It was pleasing that the paper acknowledged the work of Tasmanian Irrigation (TI) in pioneering this model. The fact that five Tasmanian irrigation projects (Southern Highlands, Scottsdale, Circular Head, Swan Valley and North Esk) were identified in the Green Paper as being high on the agenda to receive federal investment in the next 12 months is testament to the work that TI is doing.

The Green Paper also calls for changes to the way supermarkets and farmers negotiate prices, suggesting more farmer-owned co-operatives could play a key role in that relationship. The paper says that the federal government will consider what it can do to foster more co-operatives in the agriculture sector, noting that regulation of co-operatives is in the jurisdiction of the states.

It also suggests states and territories should adopt a ‘co-operatives national law’ which would make it easier to run a co-operative across different jurisdictions. While co-operatives are regulated by the states, the federal government says it is interested in understanding obstacles to establishing new co-operatives and whether there are any government initiatives that could be undertaken to promote take-up.

Mr Joyce says prices paid to farmers was an issue that came up repeatedly in submissions received by the federal government to the Green Paper. The recommendations in the paper about improving relations between farmers and supermarkets come after years of talks around a code of conduct, with only an interim voluntary code currently in place.

Tensions between supermarkets and farmers have also been the focus of investigations by the ACCC in recent months, with pending Federal Court action against retailer Coles.

Minister Joyce has indicated that the government believes unconscionable conduct should be controlled. He has committed to ‘doing more’ if more is required to bring about a more honest approach by those who wish to exploit their market position in such a way that is hardened and discriminatory against smaller players who are trying to supply them.

The recommendations in the paper about improving relations between farmers and supermarkets come after years of talks around a code of conduct, with only an interim voluntary code currently in place.

The Green Paper also covers other areas including foreign investment, drought, biosecurity and education and training.

In the end, it will be up to industry to ensure that the government remained focussed on the policy’s key objective.

A better return for our farm gate sounds good in theory, but it will be up to all of us to make sure that the government keeps its promises.
TFGA chief executive Jan Davis