GPA members met in Canberra mid-March for a series of important events and timely advocacy activities, including continuing our strong fight against the proposed Biosecurity Tax. HERE
GPA POLICY COUNCIL SETS 2024 AGENDA
GPA’s Policy Council meeting was held at the National Press Club and saw our State Members, grower directors and professional staff discuss key issues, with expert presentations, as well as the results of this year’s grower survey.
We also held a function at Parliament House which allowed our members to engage directly with different members of parliament, including those from the major grain producing electorates of Australia.
The main topics at our Policy Council meeting included:
biosecurity
grain market access and the ISCC scheme,
freight and supply chain improvements,
progress of the Wheat Port Code Review,
renewable fuels and land access matters,
End Point Royalties and the need for streamlined collections to make the system more efficient
GRDC presentation on RD&E investments,
strategies to manage APVMA efficiencies and continue access to crop protection products that are vital to sustainable grain production
increasing value from compulsory grain levies and much more.
Our work on sustainability continued the next day with an event hosted by GrainGrowers on the new process for the Grains Sustainability Framework, of which GPA is a key part of, in representing our members.
FORTIFYING ADVOCACY FACE-TO-FACE
We also took the opportunity to meet with different members of Federal Parliament to continue raising our concerns about the Biosecurity Tax.
Our Canberra delegation also coincided with debate being held in the Federation Chamber on the proposed bills to implement this new tax in coming weeks, with most all of the speeches expressing serious concerns about the flawed proposal and indicating they would oppose it, in the Lower House vote.
The Australian Greens and all cross-bench MPs joined the Coalition in voting against the Biosecurity Tax in the Lower House this week and supported it being sent to an inquiry by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, in expressing genuine concerns about the flawed design – only Labor voted for it.
Coalition MPs spoke strongly against it and several independent members also demonstrated they’d taken time to meet with farmers, not just grain producers, to understand their concerns and the fundamental inequities and unfairness of the proposal and why it needs to be scrapped.
With the bills facing an inquiry, many red flags have been raised and will need to be properly satisfied, before it can be passed and implemented by the proposed deadline.
Independent MP Helen Haines summed up the fatal flaws in the bills by saying good consultation delivers better outcomes and builds genuine trust with those impacted by the policy – but this clearly hasn’t happened in this case and that’s why GPA and all farming groups are opposed to this proposal, in one shape or another.
This article first appeared in GPA's monthly Grain Grabs newsletter. Stay up to date with GPA news by subscribing below.