BACKING OUR CANE GROWERS – GLEN KELLY MP

Glen Kelly MP discussing the sugar industry with Mackay Canegrowers reps Joeseph Borg and Michelle Martin and Councillor Peter Sheedy. Photo supplied

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For generations, the local Growers of the Mackay region sugar industry have helped build the wealth of this region.

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They have supported our mills, our engineering businesses, our transport operators, our schools, our sporting clubs and thousands of local jobs.

Our growers are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for a fair go and the opportunity to build a strong future for the next generation.

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The Crisafulli Government understands that we have set an ambitious target to grow Queensland’s primary industries to $30 billion by 2030, and sugar must be part of that growth. We have also backed a parliamentary inquiry into sugarcane bioenergy opportunities because the future of cane is about more than raw sugar. It is about electricity, biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel and new value-adding industries that can create jobs right here in regional Queensland.

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But while the State Government is looking at how we help agriculture grow, Mackay Regional Council needs to have a serious look at the burden it places on our cane growers.

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Council continues to operate a differential rating system that categorises properties according to their primary land use, including rural and cane farming properties.  

I fundamentally disagree with an approach that sees productive agricultural land treated differently simply because of what is being grown on it.

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Farmers already carry significant rates bills because of the size and value of their properties. To then impose a rating system that further differentiates land because a family chooses to grow sugarcane is ridiculous.

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A cane farm isn't just a large block of land. It is a business. It requires machinery, fertiliser, fuel, labour, insurance and constant reinvestment just to get another crop to the mill.

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Every extra dollar taken through rates is a dollar that cannot be invested back into that farm. Mackay Regional Council should be asking how it can make our region more competitive, not how much more it can extract from productive industries.

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It is time to trim the fat in Gordon Street, find efficiencies within Council and take some pressure off the people who actually generate wealth in our region.

Our growers want to grow cane. Our mills need throughput. Our local businesses need a strong agricultural economy.

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The Crisafulli Government will keep backing agriculture to grow. It is time for Mackay Regional Council to do the same, give our cane growers a fair go, get out of the way and let the sugar industry thrive.

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