South Aust. Border WatchThis malaise is not only confined to...

South Aust. Border Watch


This malaise is not only confined to South Australia

Former farm leader decries MIS �mistake�
Posted on February 20, 2010, 10:10am
The South Australian Farmers Federation (SAFF) made a critical mistake when it lobbied against subsidies for bluegum managed investment schemes, instead of calling for the same deal for other agriculture, according to a former leader of the organisation.

Dale Perkins, who was president of SAFF from 1999 until 2002 and continues to farm at Penola, Kongorong and Western Victoria, said he remained frustrated by the politics of agriculture, despite no longer being involved in state leadership.
�If we could have had a level playing field with the managed investment schemes we wouldn�t have half the bluegums in the ground that we do today,� he said.

�Farmers would have bid against them to buy the land and it would still be in food production.�

He commented after an Australian National University report was released showing assistance to forestry outweighed subsidies for other agriculture, reducing water and land available for food production.

The National Association of Forest Industries has rejected the findings of the report.

But Mr Perkins said the food production issue would become a major concern for the nation, while communities had changed drastically due to the spread of bluegums.

�I met an elderly couple from Dorodong recently who said bluegums had ruined their community because there was no-one left any more to man the fire truck and help with maintenance of the hall and those type of things that were done before,� he said.

Mr Perkins said bluegum expansion had provided a short-term injection of jobs and funds, boosting land prices as farmers sold their properties.

But he said farmers then left the areas and many plantation workers were based in larger regional centres.

�Farmers usually employed locals in their areas, but bluegums, while they might have been great for Mount Gambier, do nothing for those small local communities,� he said.

Mr Perkins said new industries should also be market driven with a focus on local value adding, rather than pushed by tax concessions.

He said government bodies should also work more to expand existing industries, including the pine sector, rather than focus on attracting new industries.