Coaliton throws support behind fishing and forestry industries
Until this week farmers have been sidelined during the election campaign, with few policies or funding committments to support their industry.
Australia’s forestry sector will be bolstered with a $40m investment if the Coalition is returned to government next month, as it also pledges to “restore certainty” to the salmon industry.
The pledge on the two controversial industries ended more than two weeks of silence on the major parties’ agricultural priorities since the election campaign kicked into gear.
Both Labor and the Coalition have been relatively quiet on new policies and funding commitments that would support farmers, despite the industry grappling with new US tariffs, flooding in Queensland and drought conditions in South Australia and Western Victoria.
Salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour has been under a cloud since 2023 when a consortium of environmental groups requested the federal government review whether the industry had the requisite approvals to farm under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act, while the logging of native forests has been banned in Victoria and Western Australia.
Opposition environment, fisheries and forestry minister, Senator Jonno Duniam, promised a review of Chilean salmon import requirements, surety to Tasmania’s salmon industry over its future and pledged not to support any further bans on native forestry.
Mr Duniam said the Coalition would work with state governments to establish permanent timber production zones, and provide $40m in matched grants for timber mills to increase timber production capacity.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins has been largely silent since the election campaign kicked off in late March.
The Tasmanian MP reiterated promises the Albanese government has recently made at a Meat Processing and Export conference in Queensland on Tuesday, including $2m to support LambEx conferences, $12m for Beef Australia and $3.5m to develop a national food strategy and examine a domestic biofuels industry.
“Labor has supported the ag sector with billions in funding to strengthen our trading relationships and biosecurity system, to secure our workforce and ensure that we are ready for the climate challenges of the future,” Ms Collins said at the Gold Coast conference.
On Monday, the National Farmers’ Federation issued a plea for the major parties to commit to a raft of measures to ensure the sustainability of the industry.
They include providing certainty that agriculture would be exempt from scope three emissions reporting requirements – which the Coalition has promised – overhauling the complex Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act, and introducing national consistent safeguards for landholders impacted by renewable energy infrastructure.
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