FEDERAL Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has questioned the Queensland Government’s basic education saying land management and erosion was something “most people learnt about at school”, as new vegetation management laws are discussed in parliament.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Speaking to the Fairfax Media last week, Minister Littleproud said people in metropolitan areas were being hoodwinked by Labor’s proposed laws to lock up country.
“This is the thing that people have to get in their minds,” he said.
“Because if you have trees, sometimes you don't get the grass underneath it and what happens is when you get rain you get this thing called erosion, and I think most people learnt about that at school, and that sometimes means we have worse environmental outcomes by locking up country and just letting trees grow.
“Our farmers are the most environmentally and ethically profound producers in the world. We are the greatest custodians of our environment because we have to, because our profit and losses is intrinsically tied to the environment.”
The Fairfax Media contacted Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner asking if he was worried about the impacts the new laws would have on his sector.
He failed to answer the question.
Instead he spoke of the Palaszczuk Government’s drought assistance and took aim at Mr Littleproud’s commitments.
“The Palaszczuk Government has maintained a range of drought support measures through the ‘Whole of Government Drought Assistance Package’ worth more than $150 million to date,” he said.
“This includes the Drought Relief Assistance Scheme as well as land rent rebates, community grants and drought relief from electricity charges.
“Mr Littleproud needs to show he’s serious about Queensland and commit funding to help those affected by drought.”
Minister Furner is set to attend Beef 2018 but said he would also support farmers across the entire industry “every other week”.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to supporting the entire Agriculture and Fisheries sector by encouraging innovative, forward thinking projects that will ensure the future of the state’s food and fibre producers,” he said.
