Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster MP has welcomed the Victorian Farmers Federation’s 20-point plan for Victoria to have the strongest farmland protections in the nation, as she highlighted The Nationals federally had already moved her Private Member’s Bill to ensure Commonwealth funding prioritises protecting prime agricultural land.

“I have been working with Mallee farmers and their communities since my election in 2019 about their frustrations with policy settings that see them consistently railroaded by Labor government priorities,” Dr Webster said.

“The deplorable approach Labor have taken in removing private property rights to push through the VNI-West and WRL transmission lines, their allocation of Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) over swathes of Mallee where landholders don’t want it, and the unchecked, divisive cowboy behaviour of largely foreign-owned but Labor-subsidised energy companies drove me, as federal member, to say enough is enough.

“I drafted the Prime Agricultural Land Protection Bill which was tabled in both Houses of Parliament in Canberra by Leader of The Nationals, Matt Canavan and Member for Lyne, Alison Penfold. 

“Many of the threats to farming in Mallee are Commonwealth-subsidised, so my Bill prevents federal funding being used in a way that diminishes prime agricultural land, or even other farming land, without farmers getting decent treatment and local communities getting more than just a ‘say’ – being genuinely respected and heard.

Dr Webster noted her Bill emphasises the importance of rehabilitation of farming land back to pre-project productivity, a theme picked up by the VFF’s plan.

Her Prime Agricultural Land Protection Bill also establishes a federal Agriculture Commissioner who would provide an independent role to the VFF’s requested ‘Farmland and Food Security Commissioner’ at a state level.  The Agriculture Commissioner in Dr Webster’s Bill would determine the adequacy of project proponents’ efforts to respect farmers impacted by projects and their communities.

Similarly, Dr Webster’s Bill also ensures project proponents put down bonds – as mining companies do – for future rehabilitation of the project site. The VFF Plan seeks transparency on rehabilitation and decommissioning plans, and a pooled state-backed rehabilitation fund.

“The Nationals Party Room in Canberra have a steel resolve to back our farmers, as my Bill demonstrates.  I am thrilled the VFF have joined this push with strong, sensible policy statements representing Mallee farmers.”

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