Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The world's population is growing, but prime agricultural land is shrinking. Food security has never been more important. Once prime agricultural land is lost, it is almost never recovered.

Last week I traversed the electorate of Mallee, and everywhere I went people were talking about the need to protect our prime agricultural land. Deputy Speaker Aldred, you may ask, 'What from?' Mallee constituents want to see a halt to the ideological renewable bludgeoning of their communities by Labor governments, federal and state, chasing unattainable emissions targets that are hurting their properties and their businesses. They want to see a halt to the division that is tearing their communities apart, risking their livelihoods, taking away their private property rights and compromising our nation's food security. They want to experience genuine social licence processes, but they are not.

Victorian government entity VicGrid sent letters in late February to 27 landholders within the footprint of the VNI West transmission line. These Mallee farmers have been given 30 days to comply or face huge fines. The Victorian government has given authorities the power to gain access to private farmland by force. Forget biosecurity, forget private land rights. This is simply outrageous—an Orwellian takeover of private property. Deputy Speaker, I want you to know these farmers are not for turning. They will not simply roll over and play dead.

The Nationals are fighting to protect prime ag land and to stop it being sacrificed for political agendas. Yesterday in the House, the member for Lyne, my colleague, put forward a private member's bill built on years of work consulting with farmers and regional communities, proposing the best protections for prime ag land on the planet. The bill proposes comprehensive national mapping of our agricultural land and categorisation by value. The bill proposes the Commonwealth must not fund future projects that reduce the farming productivity of tier 1 and provides ironclad protections for social licence via independent reporting and assessment by a national agricultural commissioner.

I want to give a shout-out to the passionate community advocates driving change in this area: Wimmera Mallee Environmental & Agricultural Protection Association, Across Victoria Alliance, Southern Wimmera Renewables Research Association and the Wallaloo & Gre Gre District Alliance. Their voices are embedded in this bill, and it is their livelihoods this bill seeks to protect.