6 June 2023. By AgForce CEO Michael Guerin
LEAN.
The name of a fitness chain? Maybe some sort of weight loss shake, or a microwave meal for the health-conscious?
Wrong! This misleading anacronym actually stands for Labor Environment Action Network - and its agenda is not as good for you as its name suggests.
Described by Scott Morrison as an “infiltration of radical activists within the Labor Party”, it’s the group behind the new Climate, Clearing and Cows motion designed to make drastic cuts to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions that would be devastating to livestock farmers.
Disturbingly, LEAN is the second most powerful movement in the ALP after the unions, and its motion has become the fastest-growing grassroots campaign in the Party’s history - with more than 170 Labor branches joining the call for a 50 per cent reduction in methane emissions by 2030.
It’s hard to believe a well-educated man like Albanese could listen to such radicalism.
But if he does, and this crazy Climate, Clearing and Cows idea becomes government policy, producers will find themselves facing unreasonable regulations, restricted capital, and even heavier taxes.
In the wake of such a huge threat to our $28.5 billion red meat industry, AgForce is rallying for Aussie farmers.
Indeed, if we let the opportunity pass and don’t insist on a seat at the table of government conversations on climate, we would be letting ourselves and our producers down.
Australia’s cattle industry is not the enemy. It offers this country a powerful and unique opportunity to tackle environmental challenges.
Our production systems are among the best in the world, and our farmers provide healthy, locally grown food that strengthens the nation’s environmental, social, and economic outcomes.
In contrast, Labor’s LEAN network is a prime example of how anti-agriculture propaganda can threaten the opportunity that this government has to work with the farming industry.
So, in a bid to overcome such idiocy, we invite the government to work with industry as an equal on climate issues.
Ultimately, the benefits of collaborating will far outweigh the half-baked efforts of activists hell-bent on making cattle the new coal.