Our Agriculture Policy in Summary:
- Full support for small family farms & farm workers in this sector including recognition of the difficulties faced through nature & mono/duopolised markets and the need for fair financial return to both the small family farmer & those who toil long hours as employees to provide these goods.
- Easy & simple access to drought assistance without unnecessary red tape.
- Easy & simple access to legal advice when dealing with hostilities initiated by banks including threatened foreclosures.
- Encourage & support access to further education & training for both the small family farmer & their employees to boost skills
- Subsidised access to bio-fuels for running plant & machinery & for the installation of alternative energy equipment including mass solar panels & wind turbines with full compensation for power they contribute to the power grid.
- Fair prices “at the gate” for farmer’s produce including severe penalties for price fixing & collusion by supermarkets & other mono/duopolies exploiting farmers for cheap retail goods such as milk, eggs etc.
- Fair wages, conditions & rights to those employed in the agricultural/rural sector including appropriate accommodation & nutritional arrangements where living on the job is required and the right to join a union & participate in the activities of the union without fear of reprisal, with penalties for breaches of these rights.
- FAIR TRADE not Free Trade. A review of all FTAs to ensure a fair deal for primary producers & their employees.
- Support in exporting goods including easy access to transport hubs, docks & ports and assisted overseas marketing by DFAT.
- Full restoration & further funding of CSIRO particularly for research & development in the agriculture & water management sectors to ensure world’s best practice
- Encourage organic farming including natural fertilisers
- Restrictions on GMO farming practices particularly in regions where organic farming pre-exists
- Reduce dumping of inferior foreign farm produce into our markets, undercutting our farming sector.
- Encourage the farming of Australian hardwoods which are strong & durable, and Pinus Radiata & similar quick growing tree species to use in the local building industry while simultaneously providing a foil to climate change during their growth stages, on a rotating basis to ensure stable & continuous periodic supply.
- An end to cruel live export of animals. All “value adding” & processing to occur in Australia by Australians creating jobs that previously existed & were lost due to this ill thought out practice.
- An investment into better freezing & logistics technologies to facilitate the export of produce including meat.
- Promote farm tourism ie school groups travel to farms & learn firsthand by those on the land where food comes from & how farming life is.
- Schools where practical to have small scale farm for learning purposes with plants grown for food which can be used in house for school meals or sold locally to provide extra funding as well as keeping & learning stewardship of domestic animals (some schools already do this) Agricultural Colleges can also be seconded to mentor students & add to their own curriculum.
- Encourage the farming of sea food to assist in relieving the pressure on our ocean & river systems as well as the natural food chain.
- Ban all whaling in our waters including “scientific research” as well as large scale floating fish processing plants & large scale international fishing.
