Farmers are shutting up Shop in Australia! Why?

The answer is simple. ..

1] The Government does not really care about them; they are unsupportive in any real measure that addresses their problems.

2] The banks do not have strategies, loans or any other products in place that suit their unpredictable lifestyle and income fluctuation.

3] They do not have the financial resources to build their business, put in the infrastructure needed on large properties buy equipment and pay for water.

4] The bottom line is they can’t survive on their incomes!

Tragedy awaits many: Farms are closing; children going hungry; communities shrinking; landowners committing suicide because they have lost hope; this is especially the case in the Dairy Industry.

Dairy Farming

Dairy farming needs to be economically viable for the nation, sustainable, environmentally friendly and profitable for those that devote their lives to the industry, and indeed for the communities that are built around and benefit by or from the industry. Dairy farming needs to be seen to work for all Australians. There needs to be a strategy for dairy farming which is profitable for the producer’s distributers and retailers as well as being both competitive and responsible for the distribution companies and retail outlets.

We need to Make not just Dairy Farming but all types of farming, Work
When farms are sold up the social order changes, as farming communities leave the district. Business’ close down, buildings become unoccupied and cannot be leased, jobs are lost, mortgages are foregone and people lose their will to keep going.

Rise up Australia Party is concerned about the fate of agriculture in this nation and wants to restore the farming industries back to their former glory when it was said, of the wool industry, “Australia rides on the sheep’s back”.

What that meant was, the sheep population was massive and the wool industry was booming, exports were high in both meat and wool, the industry was very profitable and the nation prospered.

Australian sheep producers now tend to focus on the production of meat as the demand for prime lamb has increased over the past half century; but Australian merino wool is still considered to be of a very high quality, a luxury item, much in demand by the fashion and textile industries around the world. In 2011-2012, the Australian wool industry produced around 355 million kilograms of wool worth almost two billion dollars. This sounds a lot but it is actually reflecting a depressed market.

Australia has the climate and the landscape ideally suited to sheep, wheat and cattle; we also have the water, yes water, and plenty of it in the north of WA and NT.

So what is wrong?

Water Rights, Trading, complex systems, fees, restrictions & usage.

Farmers and market gardeners should not have to anguish over whether they can afford or have enough to grow their crops, sustain their animals and supply their household with such a basic commodity as water.

Let’s consider why countries such as Japan, around the same size as NZ and with over126million people are not currently experiencing water shortages.

Japanese people are extravagantly consuming around 330 litres of water per capita per day – how does this work?

Firstly they have become extremely proficient in minimising water wastage, having one of the lowest levels of water distribution losses in the world.

Secondly they have invested in water storage infrastructure such as weirs, dams, and reservoirs that adequately provides for approximately 73% of their water supply, using the sea, rivers, lakes and surface water, etc. for the remaining.

If Japan can provide viable water resources to the nation at a reasonable cost, surely Australia with only 24 million can provide adequate water for the needs of farming and industry, without the extreme costs to these communities that are currently being enforced.

What was the cause of the down turn in Australian farming and general agriculture?     Government Decisions!

The Government! The Powers that be, in their wisdom, formed A New International Economic Order and decided that we should be a world producer and competitor in other industries, such as the motor vehicle industry which our Government has now decided it can’t afford to prop up any longer. Who paid the price for their schemes? The Farmers, the Australian people and the Economy! Let’s face it, our Government made the wrong choice!

So what can we do about it?

Make Farming Great Again!!

With Rise up Australia Party’s (1) Economic Policy there will be many more tax dollars going into building up the Agricultural Industries.

Our policies include, but are not limited to:

1. The establishment of a Government owned bank that offers low rates of interest, generous repayment terms, conditions and interest free loans for an agreed period of time to Farmers, Market Gardeners, small Business and those suffering severe hardship.
2. A six months freeze of mortgage payments for farms, country businesses, people suffering job losses which have drastically reduced their income and other hardships; conditions will apply.
3. The reinstatement of tariffs to protect manufacturing and rural industries from cheap imports.
4. A mandatory minimum wholesale milk price paid to dairy farmers.
5. No taxes placed on the sale of any type of Australian grown or owned milk/Dairy product where milk is the main ingredient, i.e. milk powder, flavoured drinks, Custard, cream, cheese, etc
6. No Imports of fresh or long life milk to allow more profitability for the Australian dairy producer.
7. A cap on the price of milk sales in supermarkets, general stores, convenience stores and service stations alike, some subsidies would apply.
8. Free water access, No water trades or having to buy water rights for water that is on your own property or flowing through your property.
9. A full inquiry into the National Water Commission and Australian water markets. To look at cutting the cost of water to our rural farming communities.
10. Investigate ways of Implementing water saving irrigation systems such as Israel’s Netafim drip irrigation system which enables the production of crops in arid and dry areas.
11. A full investigation into the use of herbicides and pesticides, their chemical breakdown and their effect on the environment and public health.
12. A review of chemicals, sprays and fertilizers used in the growing of fresh food imports to ensure compliance to Australian standards.
13. Explore the Bradfield and Ord river water supplies and schemes, in the view of making real progress to instigate the piping of water to the southern states.
14. Stop the sales of prime farming land and vital in infrastructure to   overseas buyers and consortiums.

References:

1. Rise up Australia Economic Policy section [1] Tax riseupaustralia.com.au)

United Nations conference on Trade and Development – Wikipedia

(1) http://www.nationalwatermarket.gov.au/about/rights.html

(2)   http://www.nationalwatermarket.gov.au/about-trade/index.html

(3)   www.netafim.com    –   Irrigation in Israel

(4)    http://en.m.wikipedia.org    –   Japanese water supply

Written by Yvonne Gentle