VACC talks shop with key government figures

28 March 2019

Recently VACC made its presence known at a National Party of Australia function held at The Woolshed, adjacent to the much-loved Shepparton Motor Museum.

Hosted by The Hon Damian Drum MP, the National Party of Australia Member for Murray, Victoria, there were lots of issues on the table for discussion and debate, including awareness of water usage, farm sustainability, skill shortages in regional and rural areas – as well as our country’s migration program and how it could better meet skill and labour needs in these communities.

Minister Drum welcomed attendees, who were made up of local business owners, in particular those with a background in agricultural farm machinery.

Key speakers included The Hon David Littleproud MP; Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Drought Preparation and Response, as well as Barnaby Joyce; Nationals Member for New England.

VACC Director Paul Bertoli of Bertolis Farm Machinery, with his firsthand knowledge of rural and regional communities, and VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym, represented the Chamber’s membership base.

Barnaby Joyce touched on discussion points from another meeting earlier that day – also held in the motoring hub of Shepparton. Attended by host Minister Drum, as well as Minister Littleproud, this earlier meeting had focussed in particular on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, the sustainability of current water plans and the importance of recognising and evolving with the needs of regional and rural communities, along with the farming industry.

Minister Drum and speakers encouraged attendees to voice their thoughts surrounding the constraints experienced by local farmers and irrigators throughout the Murray-Darling project so far. Thoughts were certainly made clear, reflecting that there were parts of the plan that needed significant improvement – with National Party representatives maintaining that working with government counterparts to make sure it was effective and sustainable in the long run was of the highest priority.

Sharing the table with VACC representatives, Bertoli and Gwilym, Minister Littleproud shared his views on the Australian agricultural economy, his unique insight drawn from growing up on a farm and leaving to go into business and private enterprise, before joining the Nationals and becoming a minister in the current government.

The next subject for discussion was focussed on the crushing impact of drought in parts of Australia. Minister Littleproud maintained that farmers, in situations of drought and dire need, require more adequate medical and mental health support.

Using Queensland as an example, he reflected that parts of the state had technically been in drought for eight years, something often not recognised across the country – an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation for people residing in metropolitan centres. This led to a discussion about the need to constantly review the nation’s water management plans.

Geoff Gwilym raised a question to Minister Littleproud, pondering the best way forward to increase awareness in metropolitan communities: the challenges and arguments faced by rural and regional areas, regarding the issue of water control, often being hard to comprehend when one is not in these areas.

The Minister acknowledged that there used to be a much bigger connection between regional/rural and metropolitan areas – people had farming families and more of a need to be in those areas. Things have changed, and he conceded that there was a need to find new ways of communicating from the farm gate to the apartment door.

The issue of our lost generation of farmers was then brought to the forefront.

With such a high percentage of young people leaving their farming roots behind to find work in cities or big rural centres, it is important to be proactive and gain that ground back. What is effectively an evaporation of Australia’s farming capability, the key speakers maintained that bringing kids back would be hard but crucial work if we want to continue to grow our farming capacity.

The last, but far from least, topic of conversation centred around maintaining Australia’s unofficial claim as the food envy of the world. Our country grows some of the cleanest food anywhere across the globe, and attendees agreed there was a need to put steps in place in order to continue to do so.

Minister Littleproud believed that the skill and labour requirements of rural areas – a key demand in order to maintain Australia’s farming capability – could be met through a review of the country’s migration program, namely improving its accessibility and responsiveness. This discussion echoed a key priority point outlined in VACC’s Federal election manifesto, Keep Australia Moving.

Overall, it was an afternoon of open communication and honest discussion – something of great importance in the lead up to the next Federal election. Minister Drum’s organisation of such a forum, facilitating an opportunity for free, informed exchange between politicians and business owners, was appreciated by all attendees.