Agmates

Agmates broke the news last Friday that the radical Green conservation group World Wildlife Fund is mounting a media campaign to pressure the QLD government to stop farmers treating woody weed regrowth.

Rural Lobby group AgForce has contacted us to advise that they have received many copies of our article and are ‘onto it.’ [ thanks to our Agmates readers]

Heres the latest from todays Brisbane Courier Mail. This an absolutely disgraceful article by the Couriers Environmental writer Brian Williams. You can see the online version here.

Curiously the online version does not include the disgraceful allegations of wildlife numbers being slaughtered by farmers that is printed in the physical paper.

It’s a full half page article on page 14, 8/09/2009. He is what has been left out of the online article:

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Mr Heath [sic WWF spokesperson] said 70 million animals were likely to have been killed by the clearing in 2005-06 based on estimates in a report by scientists Dr Hal Cogger, Professor Hugh Ford, Dr Christopher Johnson, James Holman and Don Bulter.

In 2003 they found about 100 million animals were killed when an avergae 446,000ha remnant vegetation was cleared in 1997-99.

This included 19,000 Koalas, 342,000 possums and gliders - 8,500,000 birds and 89,000,000 (thats right 89 million) reptiles.

Mr Heath said the massive losses were unacceptable. “It’s a huge blow for our wildlife, our climate, our rivers and the reefs.”

“The animals that are wiped out suffer horribly as they are burnt or starved to death.”

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And From the web site:

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“Queensland will fail to reduce emissions if it continues to allow this level of land clearing,” Mr Heath said.

“Halting the practice is a cheap and easy way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

WWF said the Queensland Government should act immediately to stop all clearing of endangered, vulnerable or threatened regional ecosystems.

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It is no wonder that urban dwellers have the view that farmers are “rednecked environmental vandals”. The reporting by Brisbane’s only daily newspaper is pure green propaganda, offensive and a disgrace.

Anyone with an ounce of common sense will tell you that the above figures of wildlife death are green hysteria and pure fabrication. Courier Mail environmental journalist Brian Williams should be sacked for printing this obvious beat up designed to denigrate farmers and pressure the government.

AgForce should be seeking legal advise on behalf of all QLD farmers. They should be suing Brian Williams and the Courier Mail for defamation.

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Have Your say!

Are you disgusted and horrified by the blatant biased reporting and obvious use of journalistic power to portray QLD farmers as environmental vandals and the heartless mass slaughter of our wild life.

All QLD farmers and rural people should be demanding a full retraction and public apology and the immediate sacking of Brian Williams.

The Courier Mail is nothing more than a Radiacl Green propaganda rag mascarading as a respected city news paper.

It is an anti QLD farmer, anti rural QLD community publication. You could make your own protest in a small but effective way - Don’t buy it or advertise in it until they remedy this outrage.

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Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes:

This is a joke right - the latest report from the Office of Climate Change says:

“QUEENSLAND faces more intense monsoonal rains and cyclones in the north, lasting droughts in the central region, and heatwaves that may force people out of the west, according to a new report that finds the state “particularly vulnerable” to climate change”.

Read the Full article as it appeared in the Australian Newspaper Today.

Come back here after you have read it and tell us what you think?

Oh please - give us a break. The Multi million dollar funded Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) with all of the Satellites, Radars and computing power can’t even accurately predict the weather a week out. Yet this crew expects us to believe it knows what it’s going to to be in 2030, 2050 & 2070.

Again I’m reminded of a Bob Dylan Song - Idiot Wind. In my opinion the chorus of this song and the parable “The Emperors New Cloths” sum up this whole global warming / climate change sham that is “the idiot wind’ sweeping the globe.

The Chorus:

Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats,
Blowing through the letters that we wrote.
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves,
We’re idiots, babe.
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.

Here’s a video of Dylan singing Idiot Wind in 1976 for all you Dylan tragics (like me).

Note - If Video stops and starts while playing - let it run through once then click the Play arrow and it will run through without stopping the second time. Its your connection speed thats the trouble. This may not work if your on dial up.

Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they’d cut it out but when they will I can only guess.
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy,
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me.
I can’t help it if I’m lucky.

People see me all the time and they just can’t remember how to act
Their minds are filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts.
Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at,
I couldn’t believe after all these years, you didn’t know me better than that
Sweet lady.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth,
Blowing down the backroads headin’ south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You’re an idiot, babe.
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

I ran into the fortune-teller, who said beware of lightning that might strike
I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like.
There’s a lone soldier on the cross, smoke pourin’ out of a boxcar door,
You didn’t know it, you didn’t think it could be done, in the final end he won the wars
After losin’ every battle.

I woke up on the roadside, daydreamin’ ’bout the way things sometimes are
Visions of your chestnut mare shoot through my head and are makin’ me see stars.
You hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies.
One day you’ll be in the ditch, flies buzzin’ around your eyes,
Blood on your saddle.

Idiot wind, blowing through the flowers on your tomb,
Blowing through the curtains in your room.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You’re an idiot, babe.
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.
Now everything’s a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, you’ll find out when you reach the top
You’re on the bottom.

I noticed at the ceremony, your corrupt ways had finally made you blind
I can’t remember your face anymore, your mouth has changed, your eyes
don’t look into mine.
The priest wore black on the seventh day and sat stone-faced while the building
burned.
I waited for you on the running boards, near the cypress trees, while the springtime
turned Slowly into autumn.

Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull,
From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You’re an idiot, babe.
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

I can’t feel you anymore, I can’t even touch the books you’ve read
Every time I crawl past your door, I been wishin’ I was somebody else instead.
Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstasy,
I followed you beneath the stars, hounded by your memory
And all your ragin’ glory.

I been double-crossed now for the very last time and now I’m finally free,
I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me.
You’ll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above,
And I’ll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love,
And it makes me feel so sorry.

Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats,
Blowing through the letters that we wrote.
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves,
We’re idiots, babe.
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.

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Tell us what you think?

North Burnett QLD Cattle Producers Tom & Robyn Aisbett write:
(Click here to see where the Aisbett’ s live in a rural Australia. On the map Right click on marker to zoom in)

It seems that the AGRICULTURAL TERRORISTS - for that is what they are, who hold higher education and ability to debate subjects they think they are expert in - are destroying our Northern Security with misguided attacks on those specially innovative Pastoralists who are planting improved pastures on poor soils - Gamba Grass being the first one in the headlines at the moment.

(Photo below is of Robyn with her ‘pet’ Grey Brahman bull “Wibbley”. We run about 1,000 cattle and I have my Brahman herd and Tom has his Droughtmaster cross Limousin herd.)

Our sensible Scientists have been researching grasses from around the world, and since we are on the same parallels as South Africa, and that country has great migrations of hooved animals, their grasses are marvelously suited to improved production here.

(Pictured below is Tom Aisbett. My grandfather drew the block in 1935. He arrived here in the middle of a roaring drought. The place was just open forest, not a fence, no yards, no house nothing. I’ve lived on and worked on ‘Hillgrove’ all my whole life. Robyn’s family the MacPherson’s were on a soldiers settlement block “Dunrobin” just up the river. They drew it in ‘49. Dunrobin is now owned by Nagel Bennett.)

The world’s population is growing at a frightening rate, and have to be fed - Australia and Brazil are in a pretty good situation to be able to do this, but as Australia is the driest continent on earth - we have to work harder.

Australian Farmers manage to produce a huge surplus - providing export income, with very little help from the government.

(This is a photo of Tom looking at some of his maiden Droughtie x Limo heifers in the paddock. The country on ‘Hillgrove’ is mostly semi open forest country. We both love this country, we know every tree, every water hole and blade of grass on it. We have looked after it all our lives and its looked after us. ).

Our country should be able to feed itself. Northern Australia, Brazil and parts of Asia are among the few parts of the world still able to be developed to produce food - when the rest of the world is hungry.

Africa is a case in point. Subsistence farming is not very efficient, nor is hampering farm development.

It wasn’t so long ago people were protesting “No more Dams”, Dams are just big boys toys, now all the grandstanding about wild rivers seems to have come to naught - dams are going in places never dreamed of, particularly the Mary Valley.

(Below is a photo of our house. It was built in 1938. A condition of drawing the block was that you had to put a dwelling on it. I’ve lived all my life in this house. We are about an hour and a half’s drive from the nearest town, either Chinchilla or Munduberra. It’s only about 100-110kms (60-66 miles) but we have about 32kms (20 miles) of pretty rough dirt road to go over before you get to the bitumen. Our electricity is solar power with a diesel generator as back up, the closest place with 240volt mains power is about 25kms (15 miles) away. Our closest neighbour is Toms sister who is on a place about 16kms (10 mile) away. With the dirt road out of the place, when it rains we stay put until it dries out.)

The world will realize they are getting short of food - fuel prices are impacting on farming, and starvation in Africa is something happening to someone else.

When people are lining up in their supermarkets for foodstuffs that are not there, as it happened in The Soviet REPUBLIC, half ‘em won’t know why.

Zimbabwe is a case in point. The white farmers who have been there for generations have been thrown off their land, their workers burned out and murdered, and now they are starving. It is being done to Australian farmers in a more subtle way.

Have Your say!

What do you think comes first - satisfying the environmentalist ever increasing demands or our responsibility to the world too produce food?

Leave you comment below or click on the Blue word comments and the reply box will appear.

Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes:

TEYS Brothers has bought the South Burnett meatworks at Murgon. South Burnett Beef went into receivership in May last year putting 350 local people out of work. The collapse of the company effectively left southern QLD with just two export grass beef processors.

Whether South Burnett meatworkers can look forward to a recall to work anytime soon remains to be seen.

Teys, has four major operational plants in Australia which are:

Queensland

Beenliegh (Between Brisbane & the Gold Coast) daily capacity of 1,400 cattle with 800 employees. Beenliegh is the Groups head office and kills all of the grainfed cattle from their feedlot at Condamine.

Rockhampton - daily capacity of 1,700 and employs 900 people. Rockhampton’s single largest employer.

Biloela - (South West of Rockhampton) daily capacity of 700 head and employs 400 people.

South Australia:

Naracoorte - (South East South Australia near Victorian Border) daily capacity of 550 head and employs 300 people. Naracoorte’s single largest employer.

Teys owns two other Plants that are not operational - Innisfail in North QLD that previously had employed 200 people and could kill 600 a day and Katherine in the Northern Territory.

We asked Livestock Executive Director Geoff Teys did they plan to reopen the works, but he told us that Chairman Allan Teys was the only one in the company authorized to speak about the purchase. Allan Teys is away for the next two weeks.

Teys is the largest Australian-owned and second-largest beef processing company in Australia after Brazil’s JBS group, which last year gained control of Queensland-based Australian Meat Holdings. Teys processes about one million cattle and turns over more than $1.2 billion.

Have Your Say!

Leave your comment below or click on the Blue word Comments to bring up the reply box.

Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes:

The Nationals Central Council has voted 149 to 1 against to move ahead with the formation of new conservative party in Queensland. QLD Nationals Leader Lawrence Springborg has been relentless is his drive to bring about the new conservative political force in Queensland which he believes is the only hope of ousting the long serving State Labor government.

Despite hostile opposition within some sections of the Liberal Party the National’s Council, rightly so has voted to conduct a ballot of the Party’s 10,000 Queensland members to find out if they support the move or not..

Members will be asked to vote on whether they support the “consolidation of like-minded, non-labor forces into a single political entity in Queensland” according to National’s Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce (pictured) who enthusiastically supports the push for the new party.

The State Liberal party had side stepped the issue a week ago when instead of supporting a motion to conduct a ballot of their own members they referred the matter to the Federal Party.

However 4 federal liberal MP’s lead by Federal Member for Ryan Michael Johnson have defied the Liberal’s National leadership by deciding to hold their own ballots allowing party members in their electorates to vote on supporting the move or not.

Michael Johnson (pictured) and his fellow Liberal MP’s must be congratulated for this move. Liberal Leader Brendan Nelson has been traveling Australia on a “listening tour”. Why would any Liberal MP not be agreeable to giving rank and file Liberal party members the opportunity to express their opinion on the merger / formation of a new conservative party in QLD?

Hasn’t it got through to some Liberal party MP’s that a major reason they got thrown out of government by the Australian people was because they’d stopped listening to the people?

Have your say!

Would you support the formation of a single, non-labor conservative Party at State and Federal level in Australia? 

Leave your comment below or Click on the Blue word Comments to bring up the Reply box.

As predicted in Agmates articles over the last 3 months the QLD government moved yesterday to declare the tropical pasture Gamba grass a class 2 weed.

Following on from Western Australia’s lead Gamba Grass is now a Class 2 weed in Queensland following the announcement of The Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries, The Honourable Tim Mulherin State member for Mackay (pictured left) issued yesterday.

Click here to read the Minsters press release on the governments’ web site.

John Rains General Manager Southedge Seeds Mareeba North Queensland writes:

I believe this is the tip of the iceberg with Buffel, Panicums and Stylos next on the Eco hit list. It is a must for the industry peak bodies to get off their bums and take a worthwhile fight up to these alternative people. The Grazing and Seed Industry needs to get together to formalize and document a Code of Practice for the use of imported production plants.

This is a victory for nonsense, a defeat for commonsense. It was an ‘Rent a Crowd’ exercise. I commend the Minister for taking a balanced view.

Having said that I consider the Northern grazing industry has every right to request a recommendation for a replacement grass that will give the same production and have the same attributes as Gamba.

While these ‘Ecoclowns” have been putting time, effort and money into bad Gamba grass they have overlooked, probably conveniently, the really bad, useless, invasive environmental weeds that are around. This whole Gamba debacle was started by one researcher from Darwin.

Not only have they curtailed the use of a highly productive pasture plant but potentially a very valuable one. One thing conveniently overlooked by these ‘Ecoclowns’ is Gamba can sequestrate over 200 mt of Carbon per ha from the atmosphere and produce massive quantities of Cellulose at the same time that will eventually be used for renewable Biofuel. It can do this without growing and maintenance costs.

Gamba is extremely drought tolerant. It produces its own Ammonium Nitrogen.

Southedge Seeds was the only seed company to put its hand up and fight for the right of the Northern grazing industry to utilize and plant this valuable plant.

From my company’s point of view, sales volume and turnover of Gamba is insignificant. Not having Gamba sales will not make any difference to our business. I feel saddened for the northern Graziers who will be denied the use of this great plant. Many of these graziers are Aussie battlers not the big glamour pastoral companies.

However much these environmentalists bleat the Australian native grass and legume species are not up to the job of giving the production required for viable grazing enterprises in Northern Australia.

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Update 04.04.08 @ 12.40pm

And now the pressure is ramped up on the NT Government to ban Gamba Grass. Click here to see the CRC media release.

Extract from the CRC media release:

“The decision today by the Queensland Government to officially declare African Gamba grass a weed is a correct and courageous decision…
Dr McFadyen said that the fact that almost 200 scientists recently signed a declaration calling for the grass to be banned sends a clear wake-up message to the NT Government to pay attention to the evidence about the long-term risk this species poses to the natural environment and to other valuable assets.”

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Have your say!

Are peak farming lobby groups AgForce, NT Cattlemen Assoc, Graziers and the Seed Industry doing enough to protect Graziers against these Anti-farming environmental groups?

Leave your comment below or click on the Blue word Comment to activate the comments box.

Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes:

Anti - farmer Green groups & weed warriors and have unloaded the second volley at State and Federal politicians in their ongoing campaign to have the QLD & NT governments ban Gamba Grass.

This is no surprise as we flagged this was on in our article Greens Pressure QLD Government to ban Gamba, Buffel Grass & Leucaena on the 18th of March.

If you read the Green propaganda - Gamba grass is “Australia’s Worst Weed”. The only thing they don’t say but imply is that the fires of Hell are actually Gamba Grass fires - it’s so bad.

On Monday with great fan fare they released this to the Media - It had also been delivered to the following politicians:

1. Paul Henderson – Chief minister of the NT
2. Anna Bligh – Premier QLD
3. Peter Garrett – Minister for the Environment.
4. Tim Mulherin – Minister Primary Industries QLD
5. Andrew McNamara – Minister Climate Change and Sustainability QLD
6. Craig Wallace – Minister Natural Resources and Water QLD
7. Christopher Natt – Minister for Primary Industries NT
8. Loenard Kiely – Minister Parks and Wildlife & Natural Resources – NT
9. Senator Penny Wong – Minister Climate Change and Water

An Open letter from Scientists calling for a ban on Gamba Grass Across Northern Australia

The Agmates article exposed the tactics to be used by the greens and the issue has been picked up ABC rural radio and to a small extent by Rural Press.

One result of our exposing their tactics is that the CRC has removed Leucaena from their web site and does not mention it. I’m told this is because the Leucaena growers have in place a state government recognized code of practice.

However if you go to their site you’ll see Buffel grass listed as a major weed that must be stamped out: Below is the photo and text from the site:

Buffel grass at Uluru (Ayres Rock NT)

Cenchrus ciliaris
Like gamba grass and mission grass, buffel grass is an African native introduced to Australia as a pastoral species. Highly competitive and drought tolerant, buffel grass has opened vast tracts of land to grazing, increasing carrying capacity in central and northern Australia. But the spread of buffel grass has been disastrous for the environment as it out-competes native grasses and spreads fire into ecosystems not naturally accustomed to frequent burning. It also threatens the environmental integrity of landmarks like Uluru (Ayers Rock), NT (seen here). Projections are that buffel grass could cover 58% of mainland Australia.

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What we need is a Gamba grass growers association, that can develop an industry ‘code of practice’ that will satisfy State Governments. We don’t need State Governments passing legislation that hurts producers and economic productivity, all to satisfy the Anti - farming Green Hysteria and their supposed green vote.

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Update 1. 03/04/08 @ 11pm

The Qld Government today declared Gamba Grass a Class 2 Weed. There are 3 categories: The definition of a C2 weed is:

C2 Weeds: plants are established in the State and have, or could have, an adverse economic, environmental or social impact. Landowners must take reasonable steps to keep land free of Class 2 plants. It is an offence to keep or sell Class 2 plants without a permit

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Update 2. 04/04/08 @ 11.30am

Ministers Statement on the ban. John Rains calls for action from Peak bodies to protect Tropical pastures.

Have your say!

Should the NT Governments follow WA & QLD and Ban Gamba Grass?

Leave your answer below of click on the Blue word Comments and leave your reply.

Northern Territory Grazier John Khan writes:

G’day fellow Agmates. My family are cattle farmers in the Batchelor area 100km South of Darwin in the Northern Territory (NT). This region has the most intensive growth of Gamba grass in the Top End.

There is an assured rainfall every year and it could be one of the most productive areas in Australia, but we have always suffered from the governments’ apathy and stubborn resistance.

(Photo of John Khan out checking cattle on his families property ‘Kita Lagoon’.)

I came to the Top end more than 40years ago after working on stations in others parts of NT, Western QLD and Northern SA. At that time cattle grazing was not very successful in the Top End.

The carrying capacity was very low due to the useless native grasses (predominantly Spear Grass) and the long Dry season, and the cattle were stunted and un-thrifty.

(This is a photo of native Spear Grass (sorghum intrans) which is the most worthless weed in the Top End.)

Three things have allowed grazing cattle to become a viable business in the Northern Territory

1. The introduction of Bos Indicus cattle:

(Steers Grazing out from Supplement Feeder on our property Kita Lagoon.)

2. Supplementary feeding of cattle (especially with urea) as seen in the photo above.

and
3. The introduction of the improved tropical pasture Gamba grass.

(These are our cattle grazing on Gamba Grass at Kita Lagoon.)

There was not much Gamba around twenty years ago but since then it has spread naturally over a large area replacing the native Spear grass.

(Below is Gamba Grass under Grazing conditions in the Northern Territory.)

About ten years ago a group of people formed a conspiracy to eradicate farming in Northern Australia, and return the savanna to a “pristine” wilderness.

These radicals hid under the cloaks of the Darwin University, CSIRO and the multitude of government departments and other organizations calling themselves conservationists.

They knew that the only way to realize their goal was to use “the salami slicing” method and they selected “land clearing” for the first slice.

This stopped new farms being developed but it did not affect the farms already cleared so the second slice was Gamba.

(Our Cattle love Gamba grass. See in this photo how around this watering point they are eating it under the fence of the adjoining paddock.)

Gullible local residents were steadily brainwashed with lies and propaganda about Gamba grass and then a wonderful opening presented itself to them.

A Batchelor rural resident, John Earthrowl, on a twenty acre block had a bush fire stopped fifty meters from his house. He blamed Gamba for the fire and made a lot of noise so the radicals set him up as the front man. Earthrowl organized and chaired a meeting in Batchelor to discuss what should be done with Gamba.

The meeting was totally set up, orchestrated and rehearsed with many of the speakers being radical. They whipped up hysteria with their outrageous lies and prophecies and the radicals shot out of the cupboard.

They enlisted the aid of the loony left, the suburban trendies, the poison pumpers and the hungry media and the campaign started in earnest.

My grand daughter Rashida and I had been researching Gamba for some time so we hit the Minister for Environment and the Government departments concerned with enough facts and information to almost shut them up for two years.

For example one of the lies they propagate is that Gamba is totally invasive, choking out every other species of grass. Gamba forms about 30% of the pasture mixture on our property. Here is a photo of Gamba co - existing with Stylo (a legume) on Kita Lagoon.

Under pressure from these anti - farming, anti development green groups Western Australia which has practically no Gamba at all, brought in legislation to ban and eradicate it.

Now these same groups are pressuring the Queensland Queensland Government to do the same.

The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland has teamed up with the Queensland Conservation Council and the Wilderness Society demanding that the Queensland government declare Gamba a noxious weed. Click here to see their current Newsletter article declaring Gamba Grass as “Australia’s Worst Weed”

If Gamba is declared a weed they will go for the next slice- probably Buffel, then Leucaena, Calopo, Stylo, Para grass until every useful pasture grass is banned. Be warned, their real agenda is to rid Northern Australia of Agriculture.

THESE RADICAL “WEED WARRIORS” MUST BE STOPPED NOW!!

John Khan

Have your say - Should the Queensland Government cave into the outrageous demands of radical green Conservation groups or listen to the responsible view of farmers and farm lobby groups like AgForce? Tell us what you think? - leave a comment.

Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes:

The Rudd Governments plans to meet its commitments under the recently ratified Kyoto protocol have been dealt a potentially lethal financial blow.

The Federal and ultimately the High Court of Australia is now to rule on whether the Commonwealth can use the 80 million tonnes of Carbon Credits accumulated from land clearing bans.

It had been the previous coalition governments intention and by default the Rudd governments plan to meet it’s commitments to limit the nation’s Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2008-2012 to the Kyoto Target of an 8% increase above the levels achieved in 1990, by using these accumulated credits without paying farmers for them.

The Federal Court in Sydney in December last year agreed that farmers have an arguable case against the Commonwealth over ownership of the 80 million Tonnes of carbon created from land clearing bans.

The credits will single handedly enabled the Commonwealth to meet its Kyoto commitments. The value of those credits has been estimated by leading authorities at $10.8 billion dollars.

The legal right of the Commonwealth to use those credits is now in question and is to be decided by the courts.

Peter King, Barrister for the New South Wales farmer Peter Spencer who is challenging the Commonwealth on ownership of the carbon in the trees said in a statement “This is the first occasion in Australian legal History that it has been found there was an ‘arguable case’ against the Commonwealth by farming interests that the Kyoto Protocol may give rise to property rights”

Now the court has given Mr Spencer the Green light to file a “notice of motion” which is an injunction to stop the Commonwealth from entering into any carbon trading scheme, until the case is decided.

Mr Spencer (pictured) with the support of action group Commonwealth Property Protection Association has long maintained that the Federal & State Governments have worked hand in hand through the Native Vegetation Clearing restrictions to create huge carbon sinks on farmers properties.

Until now the Government had planned to use the carbon credits created by those “sinks” to offset its Greenhouse Gas Emissions and meet it Kyoto commitments at no cost to itself. Thats now in doubt.

Justin Sherrard and Alan Tate in a report to the Australian Emissions Trading Forum in December 2006 entitled “Australia’s Farmers Miss Out on $billions” stated:

“Through reducing land clearing Australia’s farmers are carrying virtually the entire load of reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions to meet the Kyoto target. Yet their efforts, worth billions of dollars, have not been recognized nor financially rewarded.”

Their report, assesses the extent and value of rural sector emission reductions being achieved and how these could benefit the hard pressed farming community.

“If farmers had not achieved these dramatic emissions reductions, to meet its target the Government would be obliged to fund alternative activities to reduce emissions, or to pay other countries or companies to reduce emissions on Australia’s behalf………. The value of emissions reductions achieved by farmers by restricting land clearing is $10.8 billion, according to our assessment.”

Mr Spencer backed by hundreds of farmers in New South Wales and Queensland where the emissions reductions achieved are largely the result of the tough land clearing laws imposed in those two States, wants compensation for farmers lost property rights and the carbon credits.

The application for the injunction is set down for hearing on the 2nd of April. However Mr Spencer’s barrister Peter King has just requested that it be moved forward on the basis of fresh evidence that has just come to hand that further supports his clients case.

Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong (pictured) is declining to comment as the case is before the court.

Agmates Editor Steve Truman writes:

State and Federal Labor Government’s have abandoned farmers devastated by the central QLD floods. Premier Anna Bligh was in Emerald and Charleville during the floods for the photo opportunities and media coverage but when it comes to the offering any real assistance to those hardest hit she has “left them to rot”.

National Party member for Charters Towers Shane Knuth is angry and frustrated. All of his efforts to bring the issue to the State & Federal governments attention have been ignored. Agmates calls to the Preimers depart about this issue were never return. AgForce has also been lobbying State and Federally for these farmers without success.

Member for Charters Towers Shane Knuth (on right) with Hog and Melanie Jones and Julie Dillion standing in front of the Belyando bridge which was submerged by the river for the first time since it was built.

Mr Knuth told Agmates - “I’ve made several approaches to the government on behalf of the affected farmers on the Belyando with no response. There are cattle out there dropping like flies from three day sickness. The Sandflies are eating flood stranded cattle and those poor people that live there alive.

Given the severity of this event and the huge infrastructure losses in the Belyando/ Emerald districts the Government is simply being tight fisted and mean spirited, offering a lousy $150,000 in assistance packages.” Mr Knuth said.

“In Cyclone Larry, some producers accessed a combination of low interest loans and grants of up to $500,000 to assist in the rebuilding of their business. People here have suffered millions of dollars in losses and the government, just because these people are isolated and out of the media spotlight throw $150,000 at them like you’d throw a dog a bone.”

“It’s a disgrace, the Premier is prepared to let good honest farming families go to the wall, while she sits in the air conditioning in George Street preparing to spend $500,000 of tax payers money to keep the media from exposing her parties mismanagement and neglect.” a furious Mr Knuth told Agmates.

A loans manager of one of the rural lending banks who asked not to be named told Agmates that they have a number of clients in the worst hit arrears. He told us that there was no way these people would be able to meet their upcoming interest payments and if they did not get immediate low interest long term assistance from the government, the consequences would be dire for them.

Mr Knuth suggested Agmates speak to the Luke family at Bygana to get an idea of just how badly affected some farmers where. I contacted Dan and Leanne Luke and asked them if they would share their situation with the Agmates.

The Luke’s property Bygana is 23,500 acres on the Belyando River and 32 days after the flooding 50% of the property is still under water. Government authorities have classed the property as “out of flood”. This rating means that the Luke’s can still assess a government helicopter to check on stranded cattle but they have to pay the fuel costs.

Photo of Dan Luke walking through flood waters with his dogs to check on stranded cattle

Below is a map of Bygana emailed to us by the Luke’s showing the the areas still underwater. Of the 23,500 acres they have only approx 5,000 acres that is unaffected. Flood water initially covered 18,500 acres. A month after the floods 12,000 acres is still covered in water up to 1 metre deep in places.

Whilst being flood bound Dan and Leanne have had plenty of time to access their losses. “We did a tally over a couple of days and we stopped after we got to $3 million in losses” Dan said. “it was getting a bit depressing so we gave it away”.

Those losses include about approx 400 head of adult cattle, nearly all of their machinery, dams, fencing, 30kms of newly laid poly pipe, the road out of Bygana .

What has been a bitter pill to swallow is the huge areas of improved Buffel grass that has been killed. The Luke have progressively improved their country over the years planting it to Buffel grass. “As the water is finally soaking back off our country we are seeing that we have lost our pasture. Buffel can’t cope with being submersed for days and we estimate we have lost nearly 7,000 acres without whats still under the water.”

This photo shows some of the 1,000’s of acres of dead buffel grass.

Dan admitted that the $150,000 low interest loan on offer would probably cover the cost of repairing the dams, but not much else. He and Leanne were grateful for the support local member Shane Knuth had given. “He’s written a few letters and tried but we are not getting our hopes up. We are pretty isolated here, no one really knows whats happened.”

The photo’s above and below show how the water has made the country a dank rotting mess. When the water goes after a month all thats left is dead grass and with a green slime on the ground.

“Dan said, that they were no worse off than a number of other families in the area. We’d welcome Premier Anna Bligh or any other Labor politician to come and have a look for themselves. We’d be happy to show them around, but they’d have to come by light plane or Chooper, there’s no road left”.

Below is the Bygana house. This photo was taken on the 16th of February and shows the flood water starting to rise again after further heavy rains the night before further up the river.

Cattle that survived the flood water are dying from three day sickness. “We are doing our best to save them but it’s really difficult. The Sandfly and mosquito’s are in plague proportions. They spread the disease from beast to beast and with the water everywhere is really difficult to get to them. The photo below is of 2 head that died at this gateway.”

We spend a lot of our time dragging dead timber in heaps and setting fire to them. The cattle stand around in the smoke which gives them some relief from the none stop bitting insects.

“We have approximately 12,000 acres of Bygana just like this, waterlogged and rotting.” The next 3 photo’s give you an idea of just what it looks like from the air.

This is a photo of a machinery shed that is about 50 metres from the house. It was taken after the peak of the flood.

Finally, there are some on Bygana that don’t think it’s all bad news.

Have your say - Leave a message of support for the Luke’s and other farmers struggling to cope with huge losses, or have your say about the Queensland Governments leaving the Belyando / Emerald flood ravaged farmers to fend for themselves.