FED: Council defers vote on mining ag land and water buybacks

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2009
FED: Council defers vote on mining ag land and water buybacks

By Simon Jenkins

CANBERRA, Aug 22 AAP - The Nationals have agreed to defer voting on a policy resolution
that some members fear would limit farmers' freedom to choose what they wish to do with
their land in the future.

Several members of the Nationals have expressed concerns that a proposal to protect
prime agricultural land from future mining and forestry developments would dictate whether
farmers could be able to grow trees on their properties because of the drought.

One of those against the motion was WA National Wendy Duncan, who said it should be
up to landholders as to what they wanted to do with their land.

Opposition agriculture spokesman John Cobb agreed.

"She's quite right. If I want to put a forest on my farm then that's my damn right to do so."

Nationals senator Fiona Nash, who was in favour of the policy, said the world population
was predicted to reach 9 billion by 2013.

"And we are going to have to feed that population.

"It's not only going to be our capacity to feed ourselves domestically, it's about
our responsibility to the rest of the globe and to developing nations," she said, urging
the resolution be passed.

NSW National Katrina Hodgkinson said the major problem with the proposal was the definition
of prime agricultural land.

Ms Hodgkinson, a farmer near Yass in NSW, said the past ten years of drought had been
pretty horrific for her property.

"But will that still be declared as prime agricultural land?" she asked delegates.

"If it becomes unsustainable for me to continue as a farmer on that land, where do my rights go?"

Another motion that called on the federal government to conduct a social impact study
on the effects of water buybacks on regional communities was also deferred until Sunday.

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said his concern with the proposed policy was
the use of the word "any" in the motion, referring to adopting a policy that related to
conducting a social impact study on any further water entitlements.

Some licences should be able to be sold.

If the commonwealth can't buy any water licences, it would place further pressure on
the marketplace, he said.

The council will vote on both motions, in an amended form, on Sunday.

AAP srj/jnb

KEYWORD: NATIONALS LAND

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