THE Grampians region’s farmers and wine producers have reason to be optimistic due to forecast demand, according to Senator for Victoria Bridget McKenzie.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Senator McKenzie spoke at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Regional Outlook Conference in Ararat on Wednesday.
The free conference, which had a theme of adapting to a drier climate, was well attended.
Senator McKenzie told the conference that Australia’s agricultural production was still worth $60 billion a year despite a small drop from the record breaking values in 2016-17.
“The discovery of gold in 1857 during the Victorian gold rush transformed Ararat into a boomtown,” she said.
“It’s a little quieter now, the gold is gone, or so they tell me. Now Ararat's economy is driven by wool, beef and the Grampians Wine Region.”
Senator McKenzie said Victoria’s key commodities forecast to rise.
“Wool prices have been at their strongest for almost 30 years and are also expected to continue to rise due to strong export demand and slow supply growth,” she said.
“With these prices, we are seeing profits being driven back to the farmgate. Bills and debt are being paid down, farmers and their families are putting food on their tables and local communities are being boosted.”
Senator McKenzie also participated in a Q and A session on a panel with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade free trade agreement outreach director Michael Dean and ABARES acting executive director Peter Gooday.
Audience members raised questions about the prominence of agriculture in the national school curriculum and the risk of global ‘trade wars’.
Speaking after the conference, Senator McKenzie said farmers were under pressure from the proposal to abolish differential rates in Ararat Rural City.
“That’s absolute madness, and it just shows the folly of a Labor party Melbourne-focused government that does not understand how much agriculture underpins local jobs,” she said.
“It’s not only the farmers and the processors, but because you have got a strong rural economy surrounding Ararat, you’ve got to have nurses and teachers and auto technicians and supermarkets.
“That’s a lot of regional jobs, it’s a lot of local families. Putting the rural sector under pressure affects everybody.”
The state government has not proposed to abolish farm rates discounts, though it has imposed a rates rise cap at a similar level to inflation.
The Victorian Local Government Minister has commissioned an inquiry into Ararat Rural City’s proposal.