Government interference dominates discussion at Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA annual convention

Everything from crippling overregulation to the stagnation of grain and livestock prices was on the agenda at the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA’s 2024 annual convention. Outrage at State and Federal Labor’s “destructive” agriculture policies, however, was the common thread that tied together heated discussions among the high-profile line-up of guest speakers. Tony Seabrook opened the October 2 event at Crown Perth, with the PGA president unleashing on a raft of “patently absurd” policies implemented — and in some cases, subsequently abandoned — by the Cook and Albanese governments. INFLATION Mr Seabrook — who has been a PGA member for 40 years and president for a decade — also homed in on Australia’s inflation epidemic, which he said was disproportionately impacting farmers. “The Reserve Bank of Australia is trying to control inflation by maintaining high interest rates, and at the same time, in myriad ways, the Federal Government is feeding inflation with its reckless spending,” he said. “Inflation in agriculture is well about the published rate. The cost of a New Holland harvester in the last two years has risen by almost 10 per cent per annum; in two years it will rise to $1.5 million. “The working people of Australia are gradually being compensated for inflation by wage increases but there will be no increases in income for primary producers, just the cost of the continuing inflation. “The effect is brutal on our industry: there is no redress for exporters to deal with inflation, just the destruction of income. All our treasurer offers is platitudes.” Meanwhile, Mr Seabrook said cattle prices were “exactly the same” as 10 years ago, while grain prices had not improved after 14 years. He said sheep prices had only “slightly recovered” from the “disastrous” crash of 12 months ago. “We’ve been through a situation here with people shooting sheep (because they) just couldn’t find a market,” he said. “The wool industry? I have no idea where the wool industry is going. The prices are flat. We hope for some changes but wool is just what it is.” OVERREGULATION Over-regulation of the agriculture sector was among the hottest topics, with Mr Seabrook calling the situation “absolutely staggering”. “I have seen the growth of regulation and red tape grow to the point that it strangles progress and opportunity,” he said. “But it’s like the frog in the pot of hot water: you hardly notice as one by one by one, these rules and regulations come into play.” Guest speaker and Institute of Public Affairs executive director Daniel Wild cited recent IPA research that laid bare the growth of bureaucratic red tape in WA. “In the year 2000, there were just 197 bureacrats in WA employed in the State environment department. Today, that has surged by 430 per cent to over 1000,” Mr Wild said. “Over the same period, the number of West Australians employed in the agricultural sector has declined from 32,200 to 26,000 — a drop of one-fifth.” Mr Wild acknowledged part of the reason for this was that “farmers are just too damn productive — a victim of their own success”. He said the situation was little better at the Federal level, where the number of staff employed in regulatory roles was tipped to exceed 100,000 by the end of the financial year. “This is a 17 per cent increase on when this Federal Government came to power, at a cost of $15 billion each year just for the renumeration,” Mr Wild said. “This growth is driven by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, where red-tape bureaucrats have increased by 76 per cent over the last two years.” ‘MONOPOLISTIC BEHAVIOUR’ Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie blasted the Albanese Government for blocking Qatar Airways’ application last year to increase flights into Australia — a move that could have helped boost sheepmeat exports from WA as Labor’s 2028 live export ban looms. “The only stakeholder that thought it wasn’t a good idea to add Qatar flights here to Australia was Qantas. Why? Because it would have meant that they couldn’t run the monopolistic behaviour that they have been,” Senator McKenzie said. “Had (Transport Minister) Catherine King agreed to Qatar’s original bid for extra flights, it would have provided an extra flight from Perth, and in the bellies of all those planes, flying fabulous West Australian produce.” This month, Virgin Australia announced plans to return to long-distance international flying as part of a deal for Qatar Airways to take a 25 per cent stake in the revived carrier. Senator McKenzie said the deal could “open the back door” after Qatar Airways was “blocked at the front door by the Albanese Government”. “That’s the type of government we have that cannot see the forest for the trees,” she said. “The only thing they’ve actually been good at doing is trashing your industry and this State’s ability to produce wealth, not just for your State, but for our whole country.” Other hot topics were the live sheep export ban, industrial relations reform, climate change policy, food security, and substandard connectivity, health and education in the bush. Other guest speakers included Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, The Livestock Collective managing director and Keep The Sheep spokeswoman Holly Ludeman, and Perth Lord Mayor and Liberal candidate for Churchlands Basil Zempilas. Mining and agriculture magnate Gina Rinehart was among the attendees. PGA Livestock Committee chair Chris Patmore, an Eneabba sheep farmer, was presented the association’s 2024 Achievement Award.