Page 16 - Demo

Labor’s tricky words break farmers’ hearts
Scheme,” Mr Mahar said. “The announcement is an insult to farmers and the rural communities in which they work and live, both in substance and form. “Labor buried its long- awaited position on the Ag Visa in a wide-ranging Pa- cific announcement made
Apiam Animal Health will manage the laboratory with assistance from La Trobe University. Photo: World Animal Protection
JEV vaccine out of Bendigo
WITH an animal vac- cine laboratory on the cards for construction in Bendigo, Japanese en- cephalitis virus could be one of many vaccines to be developed on the site.
JEV, a mosquito- borne virus, has spread through Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia recently, with 73 piggeries having confirmed cases.
tory with the assistance of La Trobe University.
into our livestock in- dustry over the past four or five years,” Dr Rich- ards said.
A new vaccine against JEV is being developed in Victoria to protect Aus- tralia’s pig population, and the stage government is providing $700,000 to- wards the project.
As a result of a rare side-effect, JEV has killed three humans in Australia from inflam- mation of the brain.
A A H managing di- rector Chris Richards said the university would assist in develop custom vaccines to combat the threat of animal dis- eases spreading across the country.
“This vaccine facility will be able to produce vaccines in rapid time for our farmers to be able to protect their livestock against these viruses.
Apiam Animal Health will manage the labora-
“There are currently no autogenous viral vaccine facilities in Australia,” Dr Richards said.
This will be the first dedicated autogenous viral vaccine facility built in Australia.
“Our farming com- petitors in the US and Europe have access to custom vaccines for when there are out- breaks on farms.
However, it is not only farmers and their live- stock that will benefit.
Apiam Animal Health managing director Chris Richards.
“We’ve seen an in- crease in some emerging viruses that have come
The new laboratory will also increase the export of vaccines for the international market and is expected to create 40 full-time jobs.
“We’ll be able to take the virus directly from the farm, and then we make a vaccine specifi- cally for that farm.”
“Viruses can find their way into various animals and, in the case of JEV and Ross River fever, they can find their way into humans,’ Dr Richards said.
Designed to combat a range of diseases af- fecting livestock, au- togenous vaccines play an important role in re- ducing the widespread use of preventative med- ications in stockfeed.
“We’re hoping that we could get a JEV vaccine for pigs in the next 12 months, and the entire facility will be com- pleted in 2025.”
LABOR has broken the hearts of farmers and rural and regional com- munities battling work- force shortages – recently confirming it will not continue with the Ag Visa, despite tricky words to the contrary.
countries further afield than the Pacific.
NFF chief executive of- ficer Tony Mahar said, “Unfortunately, Labor has confirmed its intention to do away with the farmer- developed Ag Visa.”
in Darwin.
“Labor should have a
“The lived experience of farmers across agriculture shows the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility schemes, as effective as they are, do not adequately address farmer’s workforce require- ments,” Mr Mahar said.
“The NFF and our mem- bers advocated for an Ag Visa for more than five years.
“Instead, this important issue has been reduced to a footnote in its Pacific Plan to play to the politics of the moment.
NFF supported the gov- ernment’s focus on coutries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and continues to encourage the expansion of the pro- gram to countries further afield to access the number of workers and diversity of skills needed.
“The Australian Labor Party had a chance to demonstrate it had listened to farmers and was com- mitted to a bright future for agriculture by backing the Ag Visa.
“Mr Albanese told the NFF National Conference, that Labor would have a new better solution.
“NFF also continues to support initiatives to in- crease Australia’s domestic farm workforce, for ex- ample via leading the gov- ernment’s AgCareerStart Program,” Mr Mahar said.
“Instead, Labor has turned its back on a chance to be part of a solution for the sector’s workforce crisis.”
“Instead, we got more of the same coupled with empty posturing.
In tricky spin, Labor will keep the Ag Visa in name only, with the visa to be limited to workers from Pa- cific nations.
“We couldn’t be more disappointed to see months of close engagement with Labor agriculture spokes- person Julie Collins and immigration spokesperson Kristina Keneally come to this,” Mr Mahar said.
“Farmers would always prefer to employ Austral- ians but the reality is, for the foreseeable future, agri- culture will rely on a com- bination of domestic and international workers.
“Pacific workers are highly valued by Aus- tralian farmers and are al- ready well catered for by the short-term Seasonal Worker Program and the longer-term Pacific Aus- tralia Labor Mobility
Neither of these repre- sentatives were a part of the announcement in Darwin.
“Labor’s non-Ag-Visa po- sition unfortunately dem- onstrates a deaf ear when it comes to supporting farmers to access the work- force they need.”
policy on solving the farm labour crisis – a crisis which impacts each and every Australian at the su- permarket checkout.
“We need a visa that casts the net further.”
NFF has campaigned for the visa since 2016 to cater for low skilled to highly skilled farm workers from
Australian agriculture will rely on a combination of domestic and international workers. Photo: LMAP, Cardno
Protecting farm gate returns
THE Coalition Gov- ernment is committing $20 million to boost on-farm biosecurity and traceability sys- tems as part of a plan for a stronger future.
to prepare for, mitigate against and respond to biosecurity risks.
Minister for Agricul- ture and Northern Aus- tralia David Littleproud said sound traceability and biosecurity starts on the farm and is foun- dational to Australia’s national biosecurity.
“These grants will be delivered in partnership with interested state and territory govern- ments, so they will be able to tackle the issues of greatest importance in their respective juris- dictions.
“Effective on-farm biosecurity practices and the ability to trace agricultural products is critical to protecting farm gate returns and supporting new and continued access to ex- port markets,” Minister Littleproud said.
“Our ability to trace livestock and agricul- tural products quickly and effectively is fun- damental to robust bio- security and food safety systems, as well as crit- ical to our agricultural export certification process.”
“We’ll offer up to three rounds of grant funding for activities that will support in- dustry and producers
“Biosecurity is a key pillar of industry’s $100 billion by 2030 goal – this is a great opportunity for our producers to uplift their biosecurity efforts.”
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Page 16 – Australian Pork Newspaper, May 2022
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