The PC draft report into the regulatory burden imposed on Australian agriculture reaffirms the need to reduce duplication and excessive red and green tape to maximise the opportunities for Australian agriculture.

We welcome the draft report on regulation, highlighting the complex and often overlapping regulation across three levels of government, and supported calls for continued consultation to better support farmers to understand their obligations.

The draft report correctly identifies that reducing the regulatory burden and improving efficiency across all sectors is absolutely critical.

Farmers aren't against regulation.

In fact, certain regulations have positioned the industry very strongly – for example, our strong biosecurity regime has reduced our overall risk of pest and disease.

However, there are clear instances where regulation is unduly burdening farm businesses. In particular, transport, environment and employment are among the areas where regulation hits the hardest, ultimately reducing our competitiveness in the global market.

The report represents an important step toward reducing ineffective red and green tape holding the industry back.

There is preliminary support for a number of draft recommendations in the report.

These include:

-Amending coastal shipping laws by 2018 to substantially reduce barriers to entry for foreign vessels, in order to improve competition in coastal shipping services.

-Expediting implementation of a national control-of-use regime for AgVet chemicals and making greater use of international data to support registrations.

-Recognising the environmental services that Australian farmers deliver to the community as a whole.

Following the report, we will now consult with our members on the report’s draft recommendations.

Tony Mahar

Chief executive officer

NFF

RURAL workplaces across the region will be able to apply for a rebate of up to $500 to implement safety measures aimed at reducing quad bike tragedies and injuries on farms.

The rebate was announced at the NSW Farmers Conference in Sydney last week  as part of a push to encourage and support land managers to adopt a range of harm prevention strategies to protect their workers, family members and themselves.

Quad bikes are currently a leading cause of death on Australian properties with 220 deaths in the past 16 years and thousands more people seriously injured.

Last year alone there were 22 quad bike fatalities and half of those deaths were workplace related so we have to act now to reduce that number. The $2 million program is a step forward to protecting people who work on farms in our region.

The $500 rebate can go towards the purchase of compliant helmets, operator protector devices, including rollover bars, the purchase of a safer vehicle such as a side-by-side vehicle, and training courses tailored to farmers.

Tocal College has also been awarded the contract to deliver 100 quad bike-training courses across NSW as part of the SafeWork NSW Quad Bike Safety Improvement Program. The rebate will be available until June 30, 2017. 

Further information is available at www.safework.nsw.gov.au.

Adrian Piccoli

Member for Murray