Tasmanian farmers have secured a voice on a critical advisory body looking at freight logistics to and from Tasmania.
Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association chief executive Jan Davis today was appointed to the new Freight Logistics Co-ordination Team that has been charged with finding solutions to the challenges of shipping Tasmanian goods interstate and overseas. The Australian Government is funding it.
“The lack high cost of shipping our produce out of Tasmania and the lack of a direct international shipping link are among the most serious problems we face,” Ms Davis said.
“Farmers face the quintuple whammy of high freight costs across Bass Strait, a new licence fee for using the Port of Melbourne, double handling in Melbourne to get onto overseas vessels, a carbon tax on shipping fuel but not road fuel and the outdated Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme that fails to recognise any of these problems.
“And we have the continuing high Australian dollar.”
Ms Davis said she looked forward to working with freight forwarders and other industries dependent on Bass Strait shipping to produce some strategies to alleviate the imposts and inconvenience they all faced.
“This is not aimed at short-term solutions and I know that farmers will be very pleased that they will be having a direct say in it,” she said.
Jan Davis TFGA
