Over the past 12 - 18 months the VFF has continued to lead the debate on many vital issues
with government and within the media:
The VFF is standing up to the Government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
so that farmers will not be left to foot a multi-million dollar carbon tax bill.
Lobbied the Victorian Government to ensure a long term commitment to Victorian food production,
the Future Farming Strategy, a $205 million programme including $103 million targeted at improving
farm productivity, $11 million for addressing climate change and $3 million for skills development.
Obtained a $180 million commitment on Victoria's Rail Freight Network including a complete
restoration of key gold and silver freight lines and a rehabilitation of selected bronze lines.
Lobbied for boosts to critical regional infrastructure, including $1.2 billion for better
regional arterials, $240 million in a boost to maintenance funding for regional roads and significant
funding for Auslink2 projects.
Lobbied the State and Federal Governments to continue drought support measures for Victorian
farmers by extending EC declarations and announcing a new $115 million package of State based drought support.
Worked to ensure that the State and Federal Governments gave the green light to the Port Phillip Bay
Channel Deepening project which will generate in excess of $2 billion for the Victorian economy over the
next thirty years.
Continued to lead the debate on the National Plan for Water Security to protect the rights of
Victorian irrigators.
Supported the applicants through legal proceedings in the Hahnheuser case to protect the $1.8
billion Live Export Trade, so that farmers can get on with the job without fear of environmental activists
damaging their businesses.
Successfully lobbied the Victorian Government to introduce a $400 rebate for horticulturalists
purchasing a Rollover Protection Structure (ROPS)
Worked with Agfarm to form the first Victorian grower-owned Grains Brokerage Alliance in
Australia's newly deregulated wheat market.
Signed off on two significant documents with the Minerals Council of Australia regarding exploration
and mining on Victorian private land to protect Victorian farmers in their dealings with the mining industry.
The VFF played a vital role in the lifting of the moratorium on GM canola and use of alternative weed
management techniques in canola crops.
The VFF has negotiated a special price for NLIS cattle tags for Victoria's cattle producers. At $1.65
each, this represents a savings of $2.15 from the price paid interstate and saves the local industry an
estimated $1.2 million yearly.
The VFF is taking the lead in lobbying the Government about the Fire Services Levy and Native Vegetation
Regulation in the upcoming Royal Commission into the Victorian bushfires.
Environmental activist groups are another threat to farming with groups such as PETA
and Greenpeace spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fund highly coordinated campaigns
which attack traditional agricultural practices, distort consumer perceptions and threaten farmers'
right to farm.
There is little doubt that the largely urban based green and animal rights movements are
increasing their influence in the policy spheres. These groups are well known and recognised
by farmers and seen for what they are, largely urban based zealots attempting to impose their
particular world view on others.
Agriculture cannot afford to let these new orthodoxies go unchallenged. While farming may
not represent the level of the population that it once did, the future of rural communities
is still as reliant on agriculture as it ever was.
While these vocal minority groups may come across as ill-informed to those in the agricultural
sector, to the wider community they are starting to gain recognition and their opinions gain
followers. These groups are relentless, well organised and financed, and uncompromising.
They are constantly exerting pressure on policy makers and elected officials regarding a range of
perceived environmental concerns. Among their aims is their intention to shut down intensive
farming industries, cancel the fox bounty, end live sheep exports, and seek massive Murray River
environmental water allocations.
These groups want different outcomes from the VFF and as they become more sophisticated in
lobbying and advocacy pose an unprecedented threat to the farming sector. They have developed a
thorough understanding of the media and know how to create enough noise to gain its spotlight,
resulting in wide spread publicity of their highly coordinated, and often controversial,
awareness campaigns.
A number of these groups are backed by celebrities using their fame to create awareness and support.
Former Beatles star Paul McCartney actively supports VIVA which claims 'eating meat, fish and dairy
causes environmental destruction, damages human health, contributes to global hunger and inflicts
immense suffering on billions of animals across the world'.
While this statement may seem misleading and incorrect to the farming sector, groups such as VIVA
are continuing to gain momentum within the wider community. Without considerable action by the VFF
in protecting the reputation of Australian agriculture, farmers risk not only losing consumer
support for their products, but also the influence these groups may have over policy makers trying
to appease the voting masses.
It's imperative that all Victorian farmers protect their profession and livelihoods from the
implications and risks associated with growing environmental activist groups. This can only be
achieved through membership of an organisation owned and governed by farmers, dedicated to protecting
and ensuring the best outcome for farmers now and into the future.
