Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) says sugar a factor in Queensland election result

Australia’s peak body for raw sugar claims the industry was a crucial factor in the outcome of the state elections.

Australian Sugar Milling Council CEO Ash Salardini said “sugar is too big to ignore”.

Australia’s peak body for raw sugar claims the industry was a crucial factor in the outcome of the state elections.

Australian Sugar Milling Council CEO Ash Salardini said on Monday that the election of LNP leader David Crisafulli as premiere was “not won or lost in Brisbane or south-east Queensland”.

“It was regional Queensland, and more specifically seats with a sugar-industry presence, that decided who the 41st premier of Queensland would be”.

Mr Salardini said that of the 15 seats that had been confirmed as changing hands, about half were connected to the sugar industry.

“Most prominent among these are Mackay, Mulgrave, Maryborough and Cook where sugar is fundamental to those regional economies,” he said.

“Add the three Townsville seats of Mundingburra, Thuringowa and Townsville along with Barron River where the sugar industry is a substantial economic contributor, and the statement that ‘sugar is too big to ignore’ has been confirmed.”

Australian Sugar Milling Council CEO Ash Salardini said that of the 15 seats that had been confirmed as changing hands in the state elections, “around half of them have a connection to the sugar industry”. Picture: Supplied

Mr Salardini said the results demonstrated “the electoral success of political parties in Queensland” and the importance of the industry to the regions.

“Sugar manufacturers look forward to working with the new LNP government to work through the challenges and big opportunities facing the sugar industry,” he said.

“We have a positive agenda with respect to R&D, workforce development, industry growth, and freight infrastructure, and with a premier with a strong understanding of the sugar industry, there is optimism for a bright future.”

Mr Crisafulli was born and raised on a cane farm in Hinchinbrook, a seat won by Katter’s Australian Party deputy leader Nick Dametto.

Mr Salardini said the ASMC’s attention was turning to federal elections next year.

“We again ask politicians across the spectrum not to ignore the huge opportunities in sugar, whether it is the cogeneration of renewable electricity or the establishment of the bioeconomy.”

He said the industry was ready to work with government for a sustainable future in the coming decades.

“It is highly likely that Queensland will again determine the political fortunes of those who seek to form government federally, and the fate of the sugar industry will be important to towns and communities up and down the Queensland coast,” he said.

“We again say to decision-makers, sugar is too big to ignore.”

Speaking before the elections, the LNP said it would deliver a Queensland first agriculture innovation fund, designed to deliver cutting-edge insights and farming productivity to boost Queensland’s farm gate output to $30 billion by 2030.

Originally published as Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) says sugar a factor in Queensland election result