Page 13 - APN May 2017

Less rhetoric, more traction needed when it comes to inland rail
THE National Farm- ers’ Federation has been buoyed by the Federal Government’s proclama- tions about its ongoing commitment to the de- velopment of Australia’s inland rail corridor.
However, NFF chief ex- ecutive Tony Mahar said it was now time to sup- port words with action.
“We have welcomed the Government’s almost $900 million commit- ment so far to the Bris- bane to Melbourne inland rail link and we are heart- ened by media reports that $1 billion has been earmarked for the project in this year’s Budget,” Mr Mahar said.
“However, bearing in mind it is a $10 billion project, we believe $1 bil- lion is the absolute mini- mum needed.”
Australian agricultural production is tipped to reach a record $63.8 bil- lion in 2017-2018 and with this comes a vastly increased land freight task.
According to Infra- structure Australia, the land freight task between Brisbane and Melbourne is set to increase from about 4.9 million tonnes
in 2016 to 13 million tonnes, or about 1.1 mil- lion 20’ equivalent units, by 2050.
Mr Mahar said a mod- ern, efficient inland freight rail system was crucial to the ongoing in- ternational competitive- ness of Australia’s food and fibre industries.
“Currently, logistics are the largest single-cost item in the production of many agricultural in- dustries, amounting to as much as 48.5 percent of farm gate costs,” he said.
“To date, Australia has relied upon on-farm pro- ductivity growth to under- pin the long-term viability of farm businesses but this is not sustainable.”
Mr Mahar said the gov- ernment’s proposed in- land rail project would offer significant benefits to the future prosperity of the farm sector.
“According to model- ling, inland rail would deliver a transit time for freight of less than 24 hours between Mel- bourne and Brisbane (1700km) with a 98 per- cent service reliability that is competitive with road,” he said.
“It is essential the de-
velopment includes port- to-port access, effective intermodal access and a competitive freight price when compared with road.”
Mr Mahar said greater investment in future-fo- cused freight infrastruc- ture was a non-negotiable priority for agriculture.
“Farmers require a least-cost pathway to market and inland rail has a large role to play in delivering this,” he said.
“For Australian farm- ers, there are few bigger issues than driving down the cost of production – of which getting produce to market is a significant part of.
“In this Budget we ask Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agricul- ture Barnaby Joyce and his government to put a nation-building project well and truly on track by committing a genuine slice of cash to inland rail.
“In this Budget we look forward to seeing eco- nomic leadership and fis- cal measures that allow Australian agriculture to thrive – because at the end of the day, every cent counts.”
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Agriculture Victoria urged to take animal welfare role from RSPCA
VICTORIA’S peak farm lobby has warned the State Government needs to act swiftly to stop animal activ- ist groups from seiz- ing the power to police farm practice in its submission to a parlia- mentary inquiry into the Victorian branch of the RSPCA.
The Victorian Farm- ers Federation has urged the government to sign into law a provision that would give Agriculture Victoria the undisputed authority to regulate commercial farming zones and confine the RSPCA to watching over domestic animals.
VFF president Da- vid Jochinke said the State Government is getting closer to un- veiling its Animal Ac- tion Plan, and this is a perfect opportunity for the government to give Agriculture Victoria the definitive authority to regulate livestock under legislation.
“RSPCA Victoria does a fine job protect- ing and investigating cruelty towards domes-
tic animals, but that role shouldn’t extend to farm animals,” Mr Jochinke said.
“The feedback we’ve received from farmers is that RSPCA inspec- tors are aggressive, de- manding and less will- ing to work with farm- ers to improve animal welfare.”
Mr Jochinke chalked this attitude up to the RSPCA’s history of activist campaigning against commercial farming, which has led to an increasingly strained relationship with the farm sector.
RSPCA Victoria ear- lier this year pledged to cease all activism following an internal review of its opera- tions, but Mr Jochinke flagged concerns the group was circumvent- ing this commitment by using the national RSPCA to campaign on its behalf.
“There is a clear con- flict of interest when you have RSPCA Aus- tralia actively cam- paigning against farm- ing practices while
RSPCA Victoria is be- ing used to regulate the law for farms,” he said.
“RSPCA Victoria wants to be taken se- riously as a regulator, so they have agreed to give up their activism, but their website still promotes campaigns by their national body to shut down the live ex- port trade and to end the legal sport of duck hunting.
“This is clear proof that the Victorian branch is relying on the national branch to do its campaigning, and this is unacceptable for the farming community.”
Mr Jochinke said farmers cared about their animals’ welfare and the State Govern- ment needed to recog- nise the good work of the agriculture sector.
“Farmers recognise that to get quality pro- duce from their animals they need to provide good care of their ani- mals and as such many have undertaken their industry’s relevant qual- ity assurance program,” he said.
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Australian Pork Newspaper, May 2017 – Page 13