Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton, has welcomed Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce’s announcement that the Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper is now available for public comment.
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Mr Coulton said the Australian Government agricultural policy was focused on increasing returns at the farm gate.
“The Coalition is continuing to deliver on its commitment to boost the competitiveness and profitability of Australia’s agricultural sector,” Mr Coulton said.
The Green Paper represents the next step towards the development of a White Paper.
The Green Paper has been built from the ground up drawing on the valuable input from farmers and industry and community representatives.
The Green Paper presents a number of possible policy ideas put forward by stakeholders during the issues paper consultation process.
“If you want to help shape Australia’s agriculture policy agenda, then I encourage you to make a submission against the Green Paper,” Mr Coulton said.
Minister Joyce said there were 25 diverse policy themes for comment in the Green Paper.
“I said I wanted to hear the big ideas, to shake things up - I was looking for new policies to truly support our farmers and our strong agricultural sector into the future,” Minister Joyce said.
“Now it’s about whittling these ideas down and deciding what’s really important to take into the future, particularly given the tight fiscal environment we are working in.
“As a nation, we need a competitive and innovative agricultural sector - a sector that increases farmgate profitability, has expanded export and trade opportunities, and strengthens our rural and regional communities,” Minister Joyce said.
Submissions are due 5pm AEDST December 5 2014.
