Respect agriculture
RECENTLY, the Federal Government joined in the pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. This will force gas-intensive industries like agriculture to reduce their emissions by about 50 per cent.
This pledge will have a large impact on industries like agriculture, the digestive systems of which produce about of 50 per cent of Australia’s methane emissions. Such a commitment will force farmers to destock, will create a fall in food production and a rise in meat and dairy prices and cause farm to close and destroy regional communities.
We are one of the most food-secure nations on the planet. Every year agriculture feeds Australia with the large surpluses going to our regional neighbours. Food and fibre production are critical to our economy, our social stability and our national security.
Take a peek at the Ukraine and Russian situation for proof.
But do we respect agriculture? Or do we call it wicked and threatening and just burden it with regulations and bureaucracy. Agriculture has been increasingly weighed down by the feel-good environmentalists with their red and green tape. It is increasingly being portrayed as environmentally delinquent, despite the point that sustainable land management is in its best interest.
Rural regions and their sustainable industries are now more than ever isolated from their modern suburban distant cousins. Agriculture is virtually unknown and unrecognised for its vital role in our history and the in placing us in the secure, stable and safe position we find ourselves in.
We were all carried on the sheep’s back to get to this position. It should be celebrated for the support it has provided to the nation.
The Federal Industry Minister has a plan to make Australia a country that makes things again. Take the veil off and support the future of what we do best. Use the new National Reconstruction Fund and its $15 billion funding to advance what we do best, agriculture.
Andy Millar
