Australian Advocacy Group

CALL TO NOTICE: HALL MEETING FOR QUEENSLAND FARMERS

Are you a farmer struggling with biosecurity red tape?The National Fire Ant Eradication Program and NSW Department of Primary Industries restrictions are crippling our livelihoods with unfair trade bans and costly compliance processes.

Join us to have your voices heard and demand change!

When: Saturday, 12 April 2025, 1:00 PM Where: 111 Stockyard Creek Rd, Flagstone Creek QLD 4344, Australia

•   Share your experiences with these devastating restrictions.
•   Work together to get this red tape lifted and restore our right to trade.
•   Push for evidence-based policies that support farmers, not destroy us.

Current points of discussion identified.

Evidence-Based Restrictions

    •       Require NSW DPI and NFAEP to provide specific evidence linking hay to fire ant spread before imposing movement controls, rather than relying on blanket assumptions after 24 years with no proof.
    •       Mandate regular reviews (e.g., annually) of restriction zones using current infestation data, not outdated or speculative risks, to avoid penalizing ant-free areas like Lockyer Valley.

Tailored Policies for Professional Farmers

    •       Exempt professional hay and fodder farms with documented pest management practices (e.g., regular inspections, clean records) from generic restrictions, recognizing their lower risk compared to hobby farmers or contract balers.
    •       Create a certification process for professional producers to bypass permits and treatments, rewarding investment in biosecurity over one-size-fits-all rules.

Compensation for Affected Producers

    •       Establish a compensation fund for farmers hit by lost sales, extra costs (permits, treatments), or market fear-mongering, especially when no fire ants are present on their properties—mirroring relief for other emergencies like floods.
    •       Legislate “just terms” payments under the Biosecurity Act for emergency actions that burden individuals (e.g., Lockyer Valley growers) for a national good, aligning with constitutional fairness principles.

Media Accountability and Public Education

    •       Regulate or counter fear-mongering headlines (e.g., “killer ants in hay”) with mandatory NFAEP/NSW DPI fact-checking campaigns, protecting regions like Lockyer Valley from baseless sales drops.
    •       Fund public awareness efforts highlighting no evidence of hay as a fire ant vector, rebuilding trust in professional producers’ products.

Constitutional Protections for Fair Trade

    •       Review NSW DPI restrictions against Section 92 of the Constitution to ensure interstate hay trade (e.g., Queensland to NSW) isn’t unduly hampered without proven necessity, addressing borderline breaches of “absolutely free” trade.
    •       Set a higher bar for biosecurity rules to prove proportionality, preventing arbitrary barriers that Favor some states’ producers (e.g.,NSW/ Victoria) over others (e.g., Queensland).

Transparency and Accountability

    •       Require NFAEP and NSW DPI to publish detailed justifications for each restriction—specific infestation data, not vague “emergency” claims—so farmers can challenge unwarranted measures.
    •       Create an independent oversight body to audit biosecurity policies, ensuring they don’t overreach (e.g., treating ant-free farms) or waste resources ($1.2 billion budget) on unproven risks.

Support for Professional Practices

    •       Subsidize pest monitoring tools (e.g., inspections, testing) for professional farms to prove ant-free status, shifting the burden off growers to comply with unneeded rules.
    •       Incentivize contract balers and hobby farmers to adopt stricter standards, leveling the playing field instead of punishing the diligent.

Reassess Emergency Powers

    •       Limit the use of “biosecurity emergency” declarations (e.g., Biosecurity Act 2014, Section 239) to cases with immediate, property-specific threats, not blanket zones, to curb overreach on ant-free land.
    •       Cap the duration of emergency measures (e.g., 6 months) unless renewed with fresh evidence, preventing indefinite burden

Enough is enough! Let’s stand united and push for fairer policies.

For more info, contact me via message, phone 0401 517 906 or email trevor.hold79@gmail.com