The Federal Member for Flynn, Colin Boyce is pledging to fix anti-farmer policies introduced by Labor that are harming agriculture in Central Queensland on National Agriculture Day.
Mr Boyce said today is a timely reminder of the important role the agriculture industry plays, providing fresh food and fibre to Central Queensland households and the world.
"Today should be a day of celebrating the wonderful agriculture industry but our farmers are under siege," Mr Boyce said.
"I want to thank the incredible workers across our agricultural industries. The Nationals 100 per cent support our agriculture industry, but unfortunately, farmers are struggling to get food from paddock to plate in Central Queensland because of what Labor is doing to them.
"Just last week Senate Estimates revealed the number of Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) workers in agriculture has fallen by more than 20 per cent, from 21,915 in July 2023 to 16,705 workers in September 2024, because Labor made the scheme unworkable.
"When supply goes down, prices go up, so families are also feeling the pain of what Labor is doing to our ag industry at the checkout."
The Nationals as part of a future Coalition Government will fix the following anti-farmer Labor policies:
- Bring back the Agriculture Visa and fix Labor's PALM scheme mess.
- Introduce an import container levy, so our own farmers don't pay for the biosecurity risk created by international competitors.
- Reverse Labor's cuts to regional infrastructure.
- Reinstate the live sheep export trade.
- Stop Labor's truckie tax and vehicle efficiency standard.
- Create a mix of energy, rather than Labor's all-renewables approach, which is destroying agricultural land.
- Scrap harmful emissions profiles, or Scope 3.
- Stop Labor's proposed taxes on superannuation, which will impact family farms.
- Ensure the 88-day backpacker work visa remains in place for the agriculture sector.
"Regional, rural and remote Australia including Central Queensland is hurting because of Labor. Only The Nationals, as part of a future Coalition Government, will help our farmers on National Agriculture Day and each and every other day of the year," Mr Boyce said.
