Labor must stop its anti-farming agenda

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud is in Western Australia this week, calling for Labor to stop its anti-farming agenda and rule out both WA-style Cultural Heritage laws and a Federal Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) if it wins the federal election.

Mr Littleproud said the Prime Minister is yet to rule out replacing the previously planned Western Australian Cultural Heritage laws or a Federal EPA.

“Australian farmers have a strong record of protecting cultural sites and want to do the right thing,” Mr Littleproud said.

“Labor must stop with the weasel words and explain before the federal election how their reforms will work.

“Importantly, Labor must rule out forcing property owners to undergo expensive mandatory cultural surveys and undermining private property rights.”

The WA Government abandoned its Cultural Heritage Act, which would have impacted blocks of more than 1100 square metres and required cultural surveys for digging a hole more than 50 centimetres, or lifting more than 20 kilograms of dirt, for activities such as mending fences, planting trees or clearing tracks.

Federal laws would create another Indigenous body that would have the power to prevent a development and force its redesign, which potentially go further than WA’s previously planned laws.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has previously stated federal cultural heritage laws would be “an additional layer of assurance” and that “of course we need to update our laws” with “laws (that) are strong and improved”. “

I am speaking to families and farmers in Western Australia this week who have concerns about any future laws,” Mr Littleproud said.

“The Cultural Heritage laws are compounded by the threat of an EPA. It is obvious Labor still wants to bring it in and is just waiting until after the federal election.

”The Nationals candidate for Bullwinkel Mia Davies said the Government needed to reduce red and green tape for businesses and industry, that do little more than add cost and time delays to projects.

“Labor’s proposed Federal EPA is simply a bureaucracy without any guarantee of improved environmental outcomes,” Ms Davies said.

“The reforms the former Coalition Government put in place streamlined processes, allowing the states to get on with those approvals and simply making sure that they ticked all the boxes, rather than putting in more layers of bureaucracy.

“Labor’s damaging ideology will hold Western Australian businesses and industry back, making it harder to create jobs to generate the wealth our nation depends on.

“Labor needs to rule out duplicating our EPA and introducing Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws that Western Australians have resoundingly rejected."