Liberal National Party Senator for Queensland Barnaby Joyce reiterated his party’s stance that, if elected in the next federal election, they will abolish the Carbon Tax, leaving local farmers pondering what to do next and how much of the Carbon Farming Initiatives they will actually need to implement.
Barnaby Joyce, along with Independent Member for Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay; Executive Director of Australian Farm Institute, Mick Keogh and Group Environmental Manager of Teys Australia, Charles Hollingworth were the keynote speakers at a Carbon Tax Forum hosted by Ebor Beef last Thursday at the Armidale Ex-Services Club.
In his address to the forum, Barnaby Joyce claimed that the Carbon Tax is the most absurd idea that he has ever come across.
“What are we trying to do to ourselves?” he said.
“We are about to go on a solo crusade. Every country has a time to go slightly off its head and this is our turn.
“This is going to have no effect on the climate whatsoever. The question I pose to the Minister Penny Wong over and over is, ‘Penny can you please tell me how much is this going to change the temperature of the globe?’
“And of course the answer you never get is nothing; everything will remain exactly where it was.
“So the government is embarking on a moral crusade because apparently we can affect global politics. This is just total and utter madness.
“My policy on this matter is quite clear; we will get rid of it; it’s lunacy.”
The majority of producers at the forum were opposed to the government’s Carbon Tax, however farmers like Edward Wright from ‘Wongwibinda’, who runs a cattle operation 50kms east of Guyra, has actively addressed environmental concerns on his own property for a number of years, establishing better land management practice and locking off around 300 hectares of remnant vegetation.
“The forum passed my expectations and I found it interesting and enlightening, some of it we knew and some of our fears were reiterated,” Edward Wright said.
“I found it helpful to hear from the speakers what they thought was going to happen and what we can do to alleviate the problems.”
On his property, Edward has been implementing rotational grazing for a number of years and he believes his carbon levels have increased accordingl. However, one of the downsides of practising better grazing management is that he cannot get carbon credits for the increased carbon stored prior to the Carbon Tax being implemented.
“This is a real disappointment to us, it is penalising those that have done a good job before this initiative.”
At ‘Wongwibinda’ they have selectively cleared for many years, believing that tree cover is an important part of grazing in the New England.
“We are not in a position to plant any more trees and so we can’t capitalise on storing carbon in this way.”
Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay has been opposed to the Carbon Tax since it was first put forward and voted against it in parliament.
“It is an ill-conceived tax and has all of the hallmarks of a money grab to redistribute wealth for political purposes rather than to address the real issues that concern us about the environment,” said Mr Torbay.
“The Productivity Commission has concluded that no economy in the world is implementing anything like the Australian Carbon Tax with a price of $23 a tonne. Carbon prices across the globe are relatively low, so many Australian companies are keen to buy carbon credits internationally because in theory, they will get a lower price.”
