NATIVE vegetation legislation featured heavily in a meeting held last Wednesday conducted by some of the leading lights of NSW Farmers as part of a regional tour.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW Farmers president Fiona Simson said there was "lively discussion" around many issues such as the farm trespass bill and the national agriculture brand called Pure Aussie launched recently at the global food forum in Melbourne.
Other issues discussed included the memorandum of understanding that NSW Farmers signed with the NSW Government prior to the March 28 state election and new national heavy vehicle laws which were put into effect within the past year.
Ms Simson said the government had committed to putting into place by November 2015 an exposure draft bill on native vegetation.
"They've committed to having in place a new native vegetation act by the end of the year -we'll be holding them to account on that," she said.
She said that a lot of ideas were tossed before they could come to a resolution on the draft bill.
“At first it was just nice, feel good, motherhood statements but it became a targeted initiative – we’ve had some good policy wins in the past 12-months.”
Ms Simson said the government has recognised that environmental outcomes and food production outcomes can go hand in hand without perverse outcomes for farming practices.
The Tenterfield meeting also discussed radio frequency identification devices for livestock and effluent control on livestock trucks.
PETA “propaganda” received a special mention from Ms Simson who hit out at the animal rights group who made headlines in recent weeks for their campaign against wool.
“Across commodities they’re not credible – they’re not a credible voice on farms – Barnaby (Joyce) came out and demolished their campaign.
“They’re charlatans and crooks who misrepresent our industry.
“We can’t be seen to tolerate anything but the highest animal welfare standards – the biggest threat is the lowest common denominator in our own industry,” she said.
The regional tour also took in Glen Innes and Armidale.
It was a good time to get out and meet the members of NSW Farmers, Ms Simson said.
"A lot of our members are having annual meetings at this time - I think it's a good thing to go out into the regions ... there are so many big issues at the moment we thought it would be good," she said.
It’s been a busy year for the Farmers’ president and she said the Tenterfield meeting was an opportune time to meet with similarly-minded people.
“We wanted to give a taste of what we’ve been doing for the last 12 months.
“The election we’ve just had – we were out on the front foot. We had quite a lot of asks and hangovers from the last term,” she said.