Following on from the visit of the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, to Scottsdale and Georgetown over the winter recess, I've continued to progress a range of matters to create greater transparency and hold the government accountable for the subsidised sale of Rushy Lagoon.
The Tasmanian state parliament is now establishing a Select Committee to examine the Federal Government’s role in funding and approving the sale of Rushy Lagoon, importantly highlighting it recognises the property is one of Tasmania's premier agricultural enterprises, supporting jobs, regional economic activity and food production. This is in stark contrast to the federal government's continued references to it as degraded land.
After learning the government has granted itself a further $8.8 million to establish plantations at Rushy Lagoon prior to the sale of the land even being approved, I've referred the grant program to the National Audit Office.
A Senate Order for the Production of Documents tabled prior to the winter break was finally responded to, shedding little light with information largely being withheld. We've come to expect this lack of transparency from the Government. The Senate passed a further two orders to produce documents, relating to the assessment undertaken in allowing access to the Australian Carbon Credit Units Scheme, and the grant process.
Labor continue to resist all attempts to create some transparency around this issue, voting against motions to order the production of documents in the Senate (the motions passed) and joining with the Greens to oppose a Senate Inquiry into the whole sordid mess.
What documents released so far have told us is the lengths that both the government and the project proponents went to in order to suppress any discussion of the detail of the project, specifically:
"Gresham House have been named in the public domain in relation to the acquisition of Rushy Lagoon, however this was done without their express permission... as such this should not be disclosed further"
If this is such a good deal, as Labor's members seem to be so keen to tell us, why all the secrecy?
Labor's net zero land grab will lock up land and destroy regional jobs. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) research indicates that achieving Australia's net-zero land-based sequestration target of 119 million tonnes by 2050 requires about 18 million hectares of projects. That’s over 800 Rushy Lagoons! In many cases, this will reduce the productivity of our agricultural land.
My colleagues and I believe it is not in our interest for the government itself to subsidise the conversion of agricultural land to grow trees. Sequestering carbon comes at the expense of growing food for Australians and for our export industries, and potentially jeopardises the local supply chains.
As I flagged very early on, Rushy Lagoon is just the beginning.
Cobungra, an iconic 31,292-hectare high-country cattle property located in the Victorian Alps at the foothills of Mount Hotham, has sold to a carbon fund and asset manager, Silva Capital. Cobungra has operated as a cattle station for more than 170 years. Local residents and historians are arguing that converting parts of the property to carbon projects could alter the station's historical agricultural identity and the broader cultural landscape of the Victorian High Country.
We must ensure we protect our agriculture industry and don't continue to lose land for carbon credits.
