LIBERAL rural MP Dan Tehan says a fresh split within the Labor party over accepting political donations from mining companies and banning fossil fuel subsidies is the thin end of a wedge for agriculture that bears similarities to the 2011 Indonesian live cattle ban.
Mr Tehan was reacting to reports today of Labor Richmond MP Justine Elliot and former Labor Page MP Janelle Saffin breaking party ranks in backing a ban on political donations from mining companies and all fossil fuel subsidies.
Along with the Greens, the two Labor members have signed onto the “pollution-free politics” pledge of environmental activist organisation 350.org.
Ms Saffin is a candidate at this year’s poll, to try and reclaim the seat she lost in 2013 running against the National party’s Kevin Hogan who holds it by a slender margin.
But Mr Tehan said the former Labor backbencher was a chief instigator of the internal left-wing movement that caused the ban on live cattle exports in June 2011 by the former Labor government, under Julia Gillard.
That ban caused catastrophic social and economic damage to northern Australia and had significant ramifications for diplomatic and trade relations with Indonesia.
It is now subject to a class action claim against the Commonwealth reportedly valued at about $1 billion that’s before the courts, to try and compensate producers and other businesses hit by a shock loss of income due to the sudden suspension.
Other retiring Labor MP’s central to the backbench revolt that sparked the trade suspension - Kelvin Thomson and Melissa Parke – have also reportedly signed onto the petition demanding an end to $2.2 billion spent on the diesel fuel rebate.
Mr Tehan said it was now clear members of the Labor party wanted to get rid of the Diesel Fuel Rebate which also applied to farmers and while it was only a small split involving a current and former member, the potential ramifications were immense.
“It wasn’t bad enough for them last time to ban the live cattle export trade to Indonesia now they want to kick farmers in the guts even harder,” he said.
“This is a rebate which is paid to farmers because they use their tractors and their vehicles on their farms – not on roads – and therefore they don’t have to pay the road tax component for the fuel and that’s why they get this rebate back on diesel.
“But banning the rebate would just drive up costs for our farmers and right now that’s the last thing they need.
“This is just the Labor left sopping to the Greens and this is a danger that every Australian needs to be aware of - Labor and the Greens do not care about regional and rural Australia.”
Ms Elliot told Fairfax Media she had adopted the fossil fuel-free position to reflect the wishes of her local community.
“Janelle and I have felt strongly about this for some time,” she said.
Ms Saffin said her community was also anti-CSG mining and her position was well known within Labor but the party was “totally committed to renewables”.
Leading into this year’s federal budget, the National Farmers’ Federation joined with other advocacy groups including miners to warn the government against cutting the fuel tax credit and explain it wasn’t subsidy.
today, NFF President Brent Finlay said the Indonesian live export ban was one of the worst decisions ever made by any government in the nation’s history and people were, “still suffering from it”.
“We want to see the legal action settled as soon as possible so people are adequately compensated for their losses,” he said.
Mr Finlay accepted the divide on fossil fuel subsidies within the ALP camp carried similar potential to the live cattle ban with an internal minority effectively leading a campaign to overturn a formal policy position, to the detriment of farmers.
“This is a prime example of where we need strong national advocacy organisations like the NFF to push back against groups that are well organised and funded so we can stand up and say ‘no that’s wrong’,” he said.
“When it comes to issues like banning fossil fuels or banning live exports or getting rid of the diesel fuel rebate they’re always at it and trying to tear things down.
“But farmers are of a different mind-set and prefer to build things up and creating wealth for this country and producing food to feed Australians and for exports.
“We work damn hard at that but these other groups only seem to try and wreck the things that others make.”
Mr Finlay said farmers wanted renewables and liked the concept but also needed economically viable energy resources to continue producing affordable food.
“The reality is we’re still reliant on fossil fuels and we’re a long way from being 100pc reliant on renewables,” he said.
“Many farmers are telling me they’re already paying too much for energy use now, like irrigation in the Murray Darling Basin, cane growers in Queensland or people pulling water from deep depths for livestock energy.”
Mr Finlay said the fuel rebate was a tax credits scheme where farmers initially paid “full tote odds” on a tax that included a road user charge.
But he said because they’re not using vehicles on roads and highways “we get the rebate”.
“We’d be concerned if they are having a crack at trying to cut that rebate - agriculture will fight it,” he said.
NSW Nationals MP Michael McCormack said the two Labor members calling for an end to the diesel fuel rebate “beggars belief” but demonstrated how out of touch they were with the actual needs of farmers and regional Australians.
“It also shows how wedded they are also to the extreme ideology of the Greens and that’s how we ended up with something like the live cattle ban that was truly devastating for northern Australia,” he said.
Labor shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon was contacted for comment.
However, earlier this month, Mr Fitzgibbon was asked whether regional Australia had forgiven Labor for the 2011 Indonesian cattle trade suspension, saying it was “a difficult time and all of us wish we hadn’t been through that crisis”.
But he said something very good came out of that period which was, “the best animal welfare system in the world”.
“That has put the live exports sector on a sustainable footing, has significantly improved our reputation around the globe and has allowed us to open up markets not previously dreamed of,” he said.
“So a difficult time but I’m proud of the system we put in place and I’m particularly proud of the boost that has provided to the live export trade.”
Ms Elliot is facing a challenge for her NSW north-coast seat from the Nationals’ candidate and Hungry Jacks proprietor Matthew Fraser who ran against her at the last election and achieved a 4 per cent swing.