LNP 5 point plan for the protection of agriculture

At a meeting in Dalby on the 16th of April, 2010, Queensland Leader of the Opposition John-Paul Langbroek outlined the five planks of the LNP's commitment to the preservation of prime agricultural land. His speech is provided in full here.

The media coverage of the announcement by the North Queensland Register is available here.

Address on the Protection of Prime Agricultural Land

by John‐Paul Langbroek MP
Leader of the Opposition & Leader of the LNP
Dalby, 16th April 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to be here in Dalby, the heart of the Darling  Downs the heart of some of Australia’s - and the world’s ‐ most prized and productive
agricultural lands.

Thank you also to my parliamentary colleagues, Ray Hopper and Howard Hobbs, who join us here today to discuss the extremely important economic issue and extremely important social issue of protecting agricultural lands.

We are of course in the seat of Condamine today, held by Ray Hopper. But Ray’s not just here in his capacity as your local member of parliament. He’s also here in his capacity as one of my senior and leading frontbenchers.

Ray Hopper is of course the Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries: representing an industry that is, without question, one of the most important economic drivers of our state.
$14 billion and growing that’s the value of agricultural production to Queensland, and that’s just at the farm‐gate.

Double that figure – double it to $28 billion – if you want to calculate the direct and indirect value of agriculture to Queensland. But I don’t need to tell anyone here today the value of agriculture to
our state and our nation.... because each and every one of us is here today because we know that value... we appreciate that value... we understand that value... and, most importantly, we want to ensure that we grow that value.

And Ray Hopper will be the driver of that policy agenda – that economic agenda – in my Cabinet.

Howard Hobbs, of course, also needs no introduction. His electorate of Warrego stretches from just west of where we are today and goes all the way to the South Australian border... Howard
comes here not only as a local MP... but he comes here as the former Minister for Natural Resources with an immense understanding and personal appreciation of rural lands issues... and he is here as the Shadow Minister for Local Government... a level of government
pivotal to land protection policies.

Agriculture is not just one industry among many; it is a cornerstone of Queensland’s economy.
It represents some of the best things about our state:

• independence;
• determination;
• hard work;
• small business;
• risk taking; and
• sacrifice.

Agriculture also represents the best things about Queensland’s future:

• world‐leading science
• value‐adding
• food security;
• new export opportunities; and
• new career paths in agriculture and agribusiness.

There is often a perception in the cities... a very, very wrong perception... that agriculture is more a part of Queensland’s history than it is a part of Queensland’s future. It’s a perception, sadly, that this State Government believes in... and this State Government drives.

It’s why we find our Department of Primary Industries so underresourced... it’s why we find our DPI under‐staffed and underfunded... it’s why we see a State Government selling our agricultural
college assets (an issue Dalby is well aware of)... it’s why the State Government has failed to properly plan for the growth in the resources sector... and it’s why we have seen the State Government fail to protect prime agricultural lands.

Our Premier views the bush as a photo opportunity... I view it as an economic opportunity.

But I’m not here today to talk about the problems: I’m here to talk about the answers and the economic opportunities. And what a magnificent economic opportunity our agricultural
industries have. Just ponder this: over the next ten years there will be another billion
people in the world. That’s a billion extra mouths that will need food... a billion extra
bodies that will need to be clothed.

What an amazing economic opportunity this presents for Queensland... an amazing economic opportunity for Queensland’s agricultural sector. And what a compelling case this is, to ensure that our prized agricultural lands are protected... because agriculture isn’t just a part of Queensland’s economic history... it’s a part of Queensland’s economic future.

I am proud ‐ the LNP is proud ‐ of the way we have always championed, funded and preserved a stand alone Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. Thanks to the LNP – or our predecessor parties: The Nationals and Liberals – through a stand alone Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, government contributes to research and development for agriculture and fisheries.

It’s an investment – sadly – that is declining under Labor; but an investment – pleasingly – that will be boosted under the LNP. But today is not the day to outline our research and development
platform... that will be launched much closer to the next State Election.

Instead, today is about making sure that we preserve our quality agricultural lands. It’s about making sure we are prepared to address the critical issues of food security... about making sure we are best placed to meet the wealth of global opportunities offered to agriculture.... and, of
course, today is about making sure we have the best policies in place to ensure that our resource sector and our agricultural sector are compatible industries... not competitive industries... when it comes to land use.

I’m sure a lot of people in this room can cast their minds back ten years ... fifteen years... or maybe even longer... to the debates many rural and regional communities used to have about their futures.

Populations were dwindling.... classroom sizes were therefore shrinking... schools were therefore closing... hospitals were losing services ‐ maternity services....railway lines were being mothballed... court houses were closing... the list went on. Sadly, these issues still confront many – way too many ‐ rural and regional communities: as they search for ways to boost populations...
ways to diversify their local economies... to foster new industries.

Other communities however - through geological luck - are now growing and booming... or are on the cusp of growing and booming... as a result of new mining and gas opportunities. And ‘opportunities’ is the right word.

But as we foster new opportunities from the resource sector, we must not squander and lose the opportunities provided by the agricultural sector.

And that’s why I can give you a rock solid commitment today that an LNP government will introduce legislation that protects prime agricultural land.

Make no mistake... the LNP’s commitment to the protection of prime agricultural land is more than a political promise: it is a political duty. And I will outline today the five key policy planks that will underpin the LNPs approach to protecting agricultural lands... that protect the
communities that have grown around them... and protect the families that are part of them.

As Queensland’s population grows and as Queensland’s economy diversifies, the challenges facing our agricultural sector are also changing.

Urban development and an expanding resource sector provide new challenges, and just as importantly, new opportunities. These do not have to be competing industries; instead they should be compatible industries.

For almost twenty unbroken years Labor has governed Queensland: in that time Labor has squandered the resources boom by failing to re‐invest in infrastructure; it has failed to plan for the future of agriculture; failed to plan for the future of our resources sector and failed to plan for population growth. As a result, ad‐hoc, knee‐jerk and last‐minute policies have become
the hallmark of Bligh and Labor.

In contrast, the LNP has long held a deep‐rooted philosophical commitment to decentralisation and to economic diversity: these core philosophies both protect and create jobs in the  communities that have developed around our agricultural lands; they grow local economies and grow population; and they ensure existing services are retained and new services generated.

Just as importantly, the LNP has also long held a deep‐rooted philosophical commitment to the protection of private property rights.

Charter of Property Rights

Today, as the first plank of our five‐point plan to protect quality agricultural lands, I can guarantee that an LNP government will entrench in law a Charter of Property Rights. This Charter will legally guarantee the rights of private property owners; whether they are householders in an urban area or primary producers in a rural area.

The Charter will ensure that all government policy relating to land and water rights is based on science and not politics or hearsay. The Charter will legally enshrine compensation for  landholders whose pre‐existing rights are diminished as a result of government policy. This will include a landholder’s right to a fully funded independent valuation.

Commission for Future Foods and Fibre

The second plank in the LNP’s policy will be to spearhead the development of world leading agricultural produce: focusing on food security at home and permanently cementing an international reputation for clean green food. We will precision target new and emerging markets and invest in precise future‐mapping of global demands and trends in the food
market.

Importantly, to achieve this, an LNP Government will establish an independent Commission for Future Foods & Fibre. This Commission will advise the government on priority investment areas and the strategic targeting of new, growing and emerging market opportunities.

The commission will consist of grower and industry representatives and the science community in conjunction with representatives from Trade Queensland and the research and development arms of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. We offer new hope, new direction and new recognition of the great success agriculture has been, and will continue to be, to Queensland.

While Labor governments – state and federal – downplay and ignore the agricultural contribution to our economy, an LNP government will champion it.

Never let it be forgotten that while some people try to dismiss or downplay agriculture as an industry of the future... while some people try to make out that agriculture is in decline... that facts are that over the last ten years the value of agricultural production in Queensland has more than doubled: more than doubled, in today’s dollar values, from just over $5 billion in 1997 to $14 billion a decade later.

And never let it be forgotten that while industry after industry fell into recession during the recent global financial downturn, agriculture did not!

With the strategic drive and strategic focus of the LNP’s Commission for Future Foods & Fibre we are determined to see the value of industry double... and double again. But if we are going to invest in strategic science... if we are going to invest in precision market identification... and if we are going to invest in food security.... then we must preserve the quality agricultural lands upon which we rely.

Protecting Prime Agricultural Land

Food security, economic security, environmental security, biosecurity and national security are all dependent on Australia protecting prime agricultural land... protecting our ability to produce competitively on the domestic and international markets.... and protecting our ability to truly deliver a “Buy Australian” campaign and withstand a flood of inferior imported produce and the associated disease and health risks.

Under my predecessor, Lawrence Springborg, the LNP made a commitment in March 2009 that it would protect prime agricultural land from mining. That commitment remains... that commitment is rock solid... that commitment will be delivered upon.

The LNP recognises the long term need to preserve prime farmland from mining, urban development and other loss. The role of government s is to identify lands and waters for national
parks based on their pristine environmental value... governments create industrial reserves based on their suitability for industry... and governments gazette and legislate for tracks of land to be set aside exclusively for development purposes.

Similarly, the LNP believes in the protection of prime agricultural land; we believe that the most productive agricultural lands should be scientifically identified; be off‐limits to mining; and reserved exclusively for agricultural production.

In government the LNP would differentiate ‘top quality’ agricultural land from other good quality agricultural land which may be considered for other compatible purposes. These lands should be classed as Category 1 (Strategic Cropping). Just as it is unlawful to consider applications to clear vegetation in areas mapped as remnant vegetation, so too should it be unlawful to consider applications for open cut mines on lands identified as top quality agricultural lands.

I said earlier... and I will repeat it again...we believe that resource and agriculture industries should be compatible industries ‐ not competitive industries.

Rural Water Advisory Panel

That starts with transparency and public confidence in understanding the impact the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) and the Underground Coal Gasification (UGC) industries are having on our water. The Queensland Government has failed to invest in proper research which is not only alarming to sections of the agriculture industry, but also has the potential to be harmful to the public images of the CSG and UGC industries which offer new and growing economic opportunities for our state.

The LNP believes that no individual, group or community should have their water access or reliability negatively affected by CSG or UCG development and if this does occur, there must be an absolute obligation to ensure that they do not suffer loss and that their interests are repaired.
The LNP supports the establishment of a Rural Water Advisory Panel which will include community involvement, through a community reference panel, in the monitoring and reporting of any impacts the CSG and UCG industries are having on aquifers and river‐systems along with issues surrounding the subsequent use of ‘ponded’ water.

Based on science, the panel will make recommendations on the future use of ‘ponded water’; its suitability to be treated and affordably purchased for irrigation and urban use.The independent panel will also advise on the future potential for ‘ponded water’ to be re‐injected into existing groundwater supplies.

The panel will work in partnership with the CSG and UGC industry and the agricultural sector. Through our plans to clearly identify and protect quality agricultural land... through our plans to protect private property rights... and through our plans to give community confidence and transparency in the impacts on groundwater from the CSG and UGC industries... we
create certainty from the current uncertainty.

We create certainty for the resources sector; and create certainty for the agricultural sector. With certainty comes investment... and from investment comes prosperity.

And it’s important that that prosperity is wisely and fairly reinvested.

Resourcing Our Regions

That’s why the LNP is committed to a policy of Resourcing Our Regions. We recognise that many areas of Queensland are experiencing massive growth in population, and pressure on existing infrastructure, due to the growth of existing and new opportunities from the resource sector. Despite these ‘growing pains’, the growth in the resource sector doesn’t only represent a great opportunity for Queensland but, properly managed, it represents a great opportunity for regional centres and communities across the state. Under Labor however, the enormous revenue generated from the resource industries in regional Queensland is not being re‐invested in our communities. An $85 billion debt coupled with the loss of Queensland’s once cherished AAA credit‐rating means that more money than ever before is being eaten up in massive interest
payments.

The LNP believes that growing our economy is the best way to start paying‐off the generational debt that Labor has left all Queenslanders and future Queenslanders. We believe that the best way to grow our economy is to ensure our regions share in a meaningful investment into their communities – not just for services and infrastructure, but long‐term investment that ensures our regional communities have the best opportunity to develop economic resilience and adaptability to meet the challenges of the future.

To underpin our Resourcing the Regions platform, the LNP will undertake precise economic modelling, to be published as a part of our first State Budget, on the flow of mining royalties to ensure all Queenslanders, no matter where they live, benefit from the wealth generated from the resource sector. That’s our commitment to economic transparency… that’s our commitment to ensuring that the wealth created today is invested to into industries… invested into  communities… to diversify so that we can create the wealth of tomorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen, today I have outlined the five planks that will underpin the LNP’s agenda to protect quality agriculture land… the five planks that will underpin the LNP’s agenda to protect property rights… that underpin economic certainty for the agricultural sector and the resource sector. But good policies in opposition are like ‘monopoly money’… good policies have no value unless you are in government to implement them.

Two years ago my side of the politics made a decision to modernise like never before… after almost 20 unbroken years of Labor government in this state, our side formed the LNP. It was an Australian first: the brining together of the former National and Liberal parties into a new and united force. At our first electoral outing… at the state election last year… we secured 49.5% of the Queensland vote... we are now on the cusp of government!

But our success from here depends on more…. much much more… than voters actually supporting us… it depends on people like you helping us develop… helping us fine‐tune… helping us with feedback… on our policies for a better Queensland.

That’s why I appreciate the opportunity to be here today… the opportunity to discuss with you further the five key planks I have outlined… to discuss with you the issues… the concerns… the
answers you have to issues facing your community. Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to any questions and any discussion that we have this afternoon.
 

The text of this speech can be downloaded here.