NEW ENGLAND MP and Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce has requested the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs Legislation Committee consider conducting an inquiry into the collection and disbursement of levies in the beef cattle industry.
“The beef cattle industry has primary responsibility for its own affairs and strategic direction – the government supports this through the collection and dispersement of levy monies,” Mr Joyce said.
“It is vital the beef industry has the right systems and structures in place to capture the opportunities in the coming decades in Asia and elsewhere. Australia is a major player in the global beef trade, but as with anything, there is always room for improvement.
“I want to ensure that the best possible arrangements are in place for the benefit of the whole industry. This is part of the government’s commitment to work with industry to reinvigorate agriculture and help farmers.”
Mr Joyce said he understood the difficulty of establishing a system that satisfied every producer and acknowledged that some producers would always want more control over the statutory levies.
“A Senate inquiry offers the best avenue to open the issue up to a debate, and provide opportunity for groups on all sides of the issue to lay their cards on the table,” he said.
“Such an inquiry would be a fair and transparent way forward, it would be at arm’s length from the government.”
