AGMates Herald » AgForce Capitulates & welcomes New Land Clearing Laws.

A report from yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald says that the new legislation banning tree clearing on Prime Agricultural land in QLD will be in place before the moratorium ends on October 7th.

“The ban will end on October 7, but new legislation will be in place by then to outlaw all clearing in specific areas relating mainly to the Mackay/Whitsunday, Wet Tropics and Burdekin reef catchments.”

Peak farming group AgForce has completely capitulated to the Government:

“Agforce president John Cotter was cautious in welcoming the legislation.

“If people want to invest in this country, they need to be clear and certain with legislation, and the seventh of October cannot come soon enough,” he told reporters in Brisbane on Saturday.”

So now the best AgForce can offer its members is bring on the 7th of October so at least we know how bad the new laws are. And when AgForce does know – Cotter says

“We will not stand by and see producers lose production and viability at the cost of some un-useful (sic) scheme that doesn’t bring out better environmental outcomes.

“Our intention is, it does not go onto productive land.”

Cotter says AgForce will not stand by and see producers lose production and viability – That is an incredible statement. They have stood by and watched the whole issue from before the State Election right up to when it becomes law.

Back on the 8th of April I wrote this post:

The Regrowth Uprising?

My email has been running hot with torrents of outrage at the QLD governments announcement of a 3 month moratorium on clearing of regrowth that came into effect at midnight last night.

Interesting that the most vigorous outrage expressed has been from the leaders of the State Farming Organizations (SFO’s).

My question is why?

They knew it was coming if Anna Bligh won the election on March 24th, but chose to remain silent on behalf to the very same farmers they are now trying to rally to the cause.

Not only did I predict exactly this outcome, I pointed out not only the political intrigue behind it, who was responsible (WWF) and how our state farming bodies sat back and let it happen. Here is the efforts we made to try and spur the SFO’s and farmers into action … while it still counted for something.

Click through to read the articles I had written which chronicle Cotter and AgForces bungling and inaction during this whole sorry affair:

9th March - If Labor wins QLD election on Green Vote – Clearing regrowth will end. from that article …Mark my words – WWF has made its position clear, if Anna Bligh’s Labor government is returned, the Green’s will be holding them to account. ……. WWF will still take Premier Anna Bligh – if re-elected to task over the clearing of regrowth. Hold your breath Australia ……. and pray.

9th March - John Cotter & AgForce high Stakes Gamble on QLD election. In This article AgForce President states their plan of action … “It would be easy for us to talk about a whole range of issues that you understand and would like to hear us talking about on your behalf such as vegetation management …. However, we trust you understand that (we won’t be)…I wrote As the peak farmer organization AgForce and John Cotter are taking an enormous gamble with the livelihoods of thousands of rural Queenslander’s with this insane policy of ignoring it’s members issues and views.

11th March - Greens expose AgForce as Amateurs in State politics game. In that article I wrote … We’ll look back and say John Cotter and AgForced took a massive punt. If Labor gets up, AgForce will have given away farmers ability to control regrowth without a squeak – Why would any farmer want to belong to a farm body that did that?

Then – due to a total lack of interest I published:

12th March - OK I’ll stop flogging the AgForce V’s Greens banning Regrowth Treatment Dead Horse … from that article … If Labor get up on March 21, they will ban the treating of regrowth. Watch the howls of protest come from AgForce and QLD farmers then. All I say is – you were warned, but you chose to remain silent, when it mattered.

Then the announcement was made by Bligh that she was taking this as policy to the election:

17th March - As Predicted AgForce got it wrong – now QLD farmers must pay the price…. from that article … Agmates and indeed your own members were demanding that AgForce ‘get on the front foot’ on this issue at the start of the campaign, but your President John Cotter and your executive decided that ‘keeping mum’ on the issue during the campaign was the ‘best’ approach. Well Andrew, disastrously you were wrong and look at the price your members and Queensland farmers will now pay.

17th March - Who was fighting the Greens as they stole the rights to clear regrowth? .. from that article … Or maybe it’s that they have known all along that the LNP will win the election this Saturday and the Tree Clearing Laws will remain unchanged. If the LNP does win, I will bow to AgForce, QFF, PRA and ABA’s superior knowledge and wisdom.In fact I will gladly apologize to them all publicly here on Agmates for questioning their deliberate strategy of complete inaction on this issue.

The whole tree clearing issue of the last 6 months shows how completely inept the AgForce organization is. QLD farmer members should resign their membership of the organization – en mass. The organization that farmers pay to represent them is either completely inept or completely corrupted by government funding or both and is actually aiding and abetting the Labor government in destroying the states farming industry.

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