Photo caption: The Nationals candidate for Parkes Jamie Chaffey, Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud and Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton pledge to fix 10 terrible Labor policies that are harming agriculture.
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton and The Nationals candidate for Parkes Jamie Chaffey are pledging to fix 10 terrible Labor policies that are harming agriculture in the Parkes electorate on National Agriculture Day.
Mr Coulton said today is a timely reminder of the important role the agriculture industry plays, providing fresh food and fibre to households across the country and the world.
“Regardless of where you live or what you do, we all rely on agriculture every single day,” Mr Coulton said.
“We’re lucky to have the best farmers in the world right here in the Parkes electorate. Our farmers produce top quality food and fibre, all while being the most water efficient and innovative.
“I want to thank all the incredible workers involved in our agriculture industry, from the farmers to the truck drivers, the agronomists and suppliers to the contractors and researchers.
“The Nationals 100 per cent support our agricultural industry, but unfortunately, farmers are struggling to get food from paddock to plate in the Parkes electorate because of what Labor is doing to them.
“Just last week, Senate Estimates revealed the number of Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) workers in agriculture has fallen by more than 20 per cent, from 21,915 in July 2023 to 16,705 workers in September 2024, because Labor made the scheme unworkable.
“When supply goes down, prices go up, so families are also feeling the pain of what Labor is doing to our ag industry at the checkout.”
Mr Chaffey said today should be a day of celebrating the wonderful agriculture industry, but our farmers are under siege.
“This Labor Government has proven time and time again that they don’t care about our farmers or frankly understand our agricultural industry,” Mr Chaffey said.
“From banning the live sheep export trade to water buybacks and funding cuts to roads and regional infrastructure, Labor’s policies are bad for our farmers and are hurting regional, rural and remote communities.
“Only The Nationals, as part of a future Coalition Government, will help our farmers on National Agriculture Day and each and every other day of the year.”
The Nationals, as part of a future Coalition Government, will fix 10 bad Labor policies. They plan to:
- Reinstate the live sheep export trade
- Bring back the Agriculture Visa and fix Labor’s PALM scheme mess
- Stop Labor’s changes to the Murray-Darling Basin
- Introduce an import container levy, so our own farmers don’t pay for the biosecurity risk created by international competitors
- Reverse Labor’s cuts to regional infrastructure
- Stop Labor’s truckie tax and vehicle efficiency standard
- Create a mix of energy, rather than Labor’s all-renewables approach, which is destroying agricultural land
- Scrap harmful emissions profiles, or Scope 3
- Stop Labor’s proposed taxes on superannuation, which will impact family farms
- Ensure the 88-day backpacker work visa remains in place for the agriculture sector.
