Senator clueless on sugar industry
Moves by NSW Senator David Leyonhjelm to reverse a hard-fought decision to introduce a sugar marketing code of conduct are both ignorant and arrogant.Senator Leyonhjelm wants to scrap the Sugar Marketing Code of Conduct, and he claims he has the support of Labor senators to do so.This is an arrogant stance by a NSW Senator with no experience or understanding of the sugar industry.He calls cane farmers ‘socialists’ and he says their arguments for a right to a say over who markets their sugar are ‘piss-weak’.
Who should call North Queensland home?
21 APRIL 2017: Decentralising government can bring a lot of benefits if it is managed well so I'm asking North Queenslanders to help identify the best options and then I can lobby for North Queensland to be a beneficiary of the Liberal National Government’s decentralisation push.
Action needed on grants for farmers
WITH the sugar industry facing tonnage losses of between 20 and 40 per cent across the Proserpine, Mackay and Plane Creek districts, as well as Bowen district vegetable growers estimating a $100 million loss, I'm urging the State Government to lodge the request for the next level of NDRRA funding.This would provide primary producers with individual grants of between $10,000 and $25,000 to aid their recovery from Cyclone Debbie damage.Although the assessment of crop damage is still ongoing, some growers in the hardest hit areas of Proserpine have losses of 50 per cent of their crop, and in Mackay and Plane Creek the damage is extensive with estimates of losses of 20 per cent.
Sugar industry needs rule book
THE sudden collapse of arbitration between Burdekin District Cane Growers Limited (BDCG) and Wilmar Sugar has provided further proof of the need for Federal intervention via a Mandatory Code of Conduct.What the industry needs is a rule book and I'm determined to provide it.The arbitration process, which has ended, came about as a result of amendments to the Queensland Sugar Industry Act which was pushed through State Parliament by the LNP and Katter’s Australia Party in 2015.While the Queensland Sugar Industry Act amendments were initially welcomed, the reality is that now they are near-useless, meaning federally something will have to be done.
Time to bring Wilmar into line
7 FEBRUARY 2017: IT’S time for the government to step in and resolve sugar marketing dispute with a mandatory code of practice for the sugar industry. Wilmar has had more than enough time to the right thing of their own free will and it’s time the government stepped in to stop the Singaporean-owned miller from bullying farmers.
Sugar tax will cut jobs, not kilos
23 NOVEMBER 2016: A TAX on sugar will cut jobs but it won't obesity - and it will hurt people on low incomes the most. The Nanny State today launched a report from left-wing think tank, the Grattan Institute, called: Taxing Sugary Drinks: Recovering the Community Cost of Obesity.
Wilmar 'forcing government to act'
21 NOVEMBER 2016: Despite having crops already in the ground and the best prices for years, most cane farmers have not signed cane supply agreements with Wilmar because Wilmar’s proposed agreements deny farmers their right to choice in marketing.
Mackay's One Billion Dollar Man
28 JULY 2016: With the support of the Liberal National Government, I am driving a one billion dollar investment to create more than a thousand jobs for Mackay over the next three to four years.