23 November 2020. By AgForce CEO Michael Guerin.
At AgForce’s AGM held last week at Belmont Station near Rockhampton, I said that despite the ongoing drought and other challenges, including COVID, there was no industry I’d rather be working in than agriculture.
That’s because of the wonderful opportunity ahead of us.
The chance to get on the front foot and lead our State and our nation on the path to economic recovery post-COVID, and to do it with a recently re-elected Government with whom we ourselves have recently mended broken bridges.
We are engaging early and positively with the Government to ensure they understand what it is we need to enable agriculture to lead us out of the gloom.
The positive contribution our industry can play in Queensland’s future – environmentally, socially, and economically – means we should be and can be a powerfully positive contributor to the Government’s policy development work.
Our policy platform in the lead up to the State Election and our 16 distinct policy asks means all political parties in Queensland know exactly where we stand...
We Stand With Regional Queensland.
Our campaign to ignite our regions and to generate amongst city folk a better understanding of the value agriculture adds to their lives isn’t going anywhere.
Ironically enough, in recent memory there has never been a better time to mend any ideological divide.
The value of agriculture – of the local, fresh food and fibre we produce – to the men and women in George Street and in the neighbourhoods throughout the south east corner has never been higher.
COVID brought it home to everyone. The unnecessary fears – unnecessary because Queensland ag grows more than enough to feed the population of Australia several times over – that we might run out.
Remember the scenes in the media of suburban Brisbane families buying out seedlings from Bunnings to grow their own vegies at home – like farmers do.
We all need food and fibre – that won’t change. Even if, for a while, some of us lost sight of where it comes from.
But now we have their attention, we can’t let go.
That’s why we’ll keep up the positive pressure. ‘Positive’ because it’s simply fact that if services to rural and regional Queensland improve, if the roads are better, if there are jobs, then the rest of us are a little richer too.
Join the ‘Stand With’ movement: www.standwithregqld.org.au.
Read more about the 'Bright future for agriculture' in the CQ Today online article.