QFF STATEMENT ON FEDERAL ELECTION 2010

THE Queensland Farmers’ Federation has welcomed the forthcoming Federal Election, and looks forward to hearing from all political parties on how they will set a positive agenda for Queensland agriculture.
QFF Chief Executive Officer, Dan Galligan, said rural Queensland would be a key area of focus at this election, with five regional electorates on a margin of three percent or less.
“Farmers will be looking to all parties to see how they plan to improve the primary production sector forward in this State,” he said.
“The Queensland farm sector is worth roughly $13 billion, and it deserves a strong vision to see it grow.
“Population growth has been a common and central theme already in this campaign and all political parties must realise that sustainable production of healthy food is a fundamental requirement for any healthy society – to achieve this you need viable farmers and strong regional communities.”
“The farmer and regional vote won’t be taken for granted. Farmers will be looking for a genuine commitment to the sector, and we’ll be scrutinising all policies announced during the campaign.”
Mr Galligan said the key election issues include:
• Water reform – current provisions in the Water Act 2007 are likely to result in the forthcoming Murray Darling Basin Plan having severely negative socioeconomic impacts on communities in southern, regional Queensland;
• Research and Development – a commitment to continue and strengthen the current research model, funded jointly by industry and government and additional funding to drive for innovation to reverse flat-lining productivity in food production;
• Sustainable management of our natural resources – a commitment to a number of existing successful farm level resource management programs as a well as a strengthened vision for a sustainable plan for the agricultural sector to grow;
• Management of green house gas emissions – ensuring that emissions legislation doesn’t impede the profitability and competitiveness of Australian farmers but recognises their critical role in managing the problem and delivering the solution;
• Climate change policy – hastening the drought reform process for Queensland farmers and increasing funding to services that assist farmers to manage climate variability and predict the impact of climate change
• Biosecurity and quarantine – investing the money that has already been identified as required to implement a truly national biosecurity framework; and
• The status of the agricultural portfolio – ensuring that agriculture and food production has a strong voice in Cabinet recognised as a key driver of the economy, regional development and sustaining a healthy population.
Mr Galligan concluded by saying that QFF would work constructively with whomever was able to form Government after the result on August 21.