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05 May 2010 WEEKLY BULLETIN, May 4, 2010

QCA INITIATES SCHEME MEETINGS
THE Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) met with customers of the Nogoa Mackenzie Water Supply Scheme in Emerald last Wednesday. QCA staff outlined to irrigators how they will address the State Government’s directive to investigate and recommend price paths for SunWater schemes for July 2011 to June 2016. About 40 growers attended, representing 90 percent of the volume of irrigation entitlements in the scheme.
Significant concerns that irrigators raised included:
• Are urban and industrial prices in the area an indication of the upper limit for irrigation prices with the addition of a rate of return?
• How will QCA assess the efficiency costs of operating schemes including SunWater head office and regional office costs?
• How will QCA account for the investments customers have made over time in the development of the Emerald irrigation scheme?
• Will QCA identify the role of the scheme for providing flood mitigation and allocate assets and costs in accordance with who benefits – irrigation, urban, mining and other industries?
• What investments in schemes will be considered as renewing assets compared with new investments that will attract a rate of return?
• How will QCA undertake assessments of capacity to pay?
• How will drainage charges be assessed in the scheme?
• Will QCA identify the costs of providing and maintaining recreational facilities at Fairbairn Dam and seek to recover these costs from the community that benefits from the use of these facilities?
• Will QCA ensure that scheme meetings are held to review their draft report on water prices once it is released in late January 2011?
Irrigators at the meeting were concerned that the QCA was not able to use analysis and data used in the development of the current price path due to confidentiality constraints imposed by SunWater. It was agreed that there was a significant investment in the development of the current price paths and QCA should have the right to use this analysis. Customers also drew QCA’s attention to significant errors in the scheme report for Emerald that had been prepared by consultants and posted on the QCA website.
Scheme meetings this week will be held:
• 4 May at 3.30pm in the Council Chambers, Heeney St, Chinchilla;
• 5 May at 4.00pm in the Balonne Skill Centre Victoria St, St George; and
• 6 May at 3.30pm in the Inglewood Civic Centre, 18 Elizabeth St, Inglewood.

HENRY TAX REVIEW RELEASED
THE Henry Tax Review (HTR) released on Sunday is a missed opportunity for Queensland agriculture. On the one hand, farmers have been spared from nasty suggestions that were speculated before the report such as the re-introduction of death taxes or fiddling with fuel tax rebates. On the other hand, the Government has missed the chance to use the HTR to boost the potential for regional areas and ensure our growing Australian population is not wholly centred on the capital cities.
The main plank of the Government’s response to the HTR is to place a Resource Super Profits Tax on mining companies. They are also cutting the company tax rate (which will affect only a small number of farmers) and are allowing businesses to immediately write off assets valued at under $5000 (up from $1000). Superannuation will also get a tweek and will gradually increase to 12 percent over the next 10 years. Along with a $700 million infrastructure fund, those are the pillars of the Government’s response to the HTR. This relatively small list of changes constitutes the key responses from an original document that is almost 1000 pages long and has 138 recommendations. It is of grave concern that so little has come out of so much work. It is also of concern to hear speculation that the Government is simply sitting on further changes in preparation for an election campaign.

WETLANDS PROTECTION REGULATION
THE State Government recently approved new wetlands protection regulations including a temporary State Planning Policy (SPP) for protecting wetlands of high ecological significance in GBR catchments. The regulations and SPP commenced on April 30. From this date, the statutory documents, a regulatory impact statement and other information are available through the DERM website. The temporary SPP will have immediate effect and this is intended to avoid pre-emptive earthworks occurring but the Policy is open for public consultation and comment until June 30. DERM will send letters to property holders in newly designated Wetland Protection Areas advising of the new requirements on May 6, 2010. These regulations are supposed to avoid having any impact on regular and routine farming practice. However it remains the case that the tangled web of regulation being imposed on farm activities in reef catchments has become both extensive and confusing to the point of posing a high risk of landholders being inadvertently in breach of one requirement or another.

HELPING FARMERS PLAN TO HAND THE REINS TO THE NEXT GENERATION
THE Federal Government has started its round of annual pre-Budget teasers and announced funding for the Rural Financial Counselling Service, as recommended in the drought policy review. The funding of $2.43 million is aimed at helping older farmers hand their farms over to the next generation. The drought review expert social panel found that as the average age of farmers continues to climb, many found it difficult to face the complex issues around succession. The panel found that when drought hits, issues around succession which have not been addressed placed greater strain on families already under pressure. There are 110 rural financial counsellors working at 14 Rural Financial Counselling Services across the country.
QFF welcomes the move, but is calling on the Government to announce a complete and finalised drought policy, rather than announcing it in pieces. This is especially the case given that drought policy review has now been in process for over two years.

INFORMATION SESSIONS FOR FLOOD-AFFECTED CQ FARMERS
FLOOD information sessions will be held in Theodore and Rolleston for farmers who have been directly impacted by the March flooding. The joint Commonwealth-State funded special disaster flood assistance grants have been extended to parts of the Banana Shire and Central Highlands Shire. Farmers may be eligible for up to $25,000 for clean-up and recovery, with up to $5000 available in the first instance to assist with immediate recovery and up to $20,000 to recover costs for repairs. Low interest loans up to $250,000 are also available to eligible primary producers to assist with recovery and reestablishment of properties. For further information visit QRAA or call 1800 623 946. The Theodore session is on Friday, May 7 from 9am-4pm at the RSL Hall; the Rolleston Session is on Monday, May 10 from 9am-4pm at the Memorial Hall.

TARONG UPDATE ON SURAT BASIN MINING TENEMENTS
Tarong Energy has announced the sale of its Glen Wilga coal development licence near Chinchilla, but in a statement said that the Haystack Road resource is not part of this sale process. The Corporation owns more than half the land within the Glen Wilga Mineral Development Licence, which was once considered as a possible fuel source for the Tarong power stations. Tarong Energy has advised all landholders on its MDLs of its intentions and notified other key stakeholders.

OTHER NEWS

CHEMICAL REGULATOR KICKS OFF NEW SPRAY DRIFT REGULATORY PROGRAM WITH A WIDELY-USED HERBICIDE
THE widely-used herbicide MCPA will be the first currently registered chemical to be assessed for spray drift risk under a new regulatory framework developed by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). According to the APVMA, “this new framework, is designed to mitigate potential risks to human health, the environment and trade, from off-target spray drift”. MCPA is a herbicide used to control broadleaf weeds in an extensive range of crops and non-cropping situations. The APVMA has already said: “Preliminary assessments have indicated that restrictions on use will need to be applied in order to protect off-target crops and terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Eventually all agricultural chemicals capable of being used in a spray form will be individually assessed and conditions of use tightened to prevent adverse effects.” The APVMA has published on its website a prioritised list of those chemicals that will be reviewed for spray drift risk over the next several years.

FARM MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS ON OFFER THROUGH RABOBANK
RABOBANK is again holdings it’s Farm Managers’ Program (FMP) in 2010, with a focus on equipping young farmers with the nous to effectively manage big-picture agricultural issues. The FMP provides a forum for farmers to discuss issues such as the carbon economy, water availability, as well as issues for agriculture resulting from a skyrocketing population in China. Participants will focus on driving the strategic direction of their farm businesses to proactively handle change before it could adversely affect their bottom line. The FMP is on from October
18 to 22 with participants limited to 36.
For more information contact Skye Ward at Rabobank on (02) 8115 4139.

GOVERNMENT PUTS ITS EMISSIONS SCHEME ON ICE
THE Federal Government has shelved its plan for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme until 2013, with media speculation suggesting that it could be delayed even further given that another Federal election will be due in that year. With the Government backing away from a double dissolution election on climate policy this year, Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has blamed the Opposition for the backflip, as well as “slow progress internationally”. In place of the CPRS, the Prime Minister has announced the “biggest investment ever” in renewable energy.
Nationals Senator, Ron Boswell, has warned revamped Renewable Energy Target (RET) legislation could also push up electricity prices. Senator Boswell said the separation of the RET into large and small renewable targets was specifically designed to lift the price of renewable power to make it cost effective for wind generators to invest, with industry expectations that the price of RECS will quickly rise to $90.

FERTILISER PRICE INQUIRY RESUMES
THE Senate Select Committee on Agriculture has reopened hearings to it’s inquiry into the Australian and global fertiliser market. According to The Land, the hearings will recommence after a summer blowout in local fertiliser prices at a time when world stocks were rising. Farmers argue Australian prices for phosphate and urea-based products are shrouded in mystery, largely because 74 percent of the wholesale trade is controlled by Incitec Pivot, which also dominates the local manufacturing sector, the paper reported.

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