Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh has used the threat of foot and mouth disease to call for a winding back of laws allowing public access to waterfront agricultural land.
Mr Walsh said common-sense changes were needed to better protect licensed water frontage and Australia’s $80 billion agriculture industry from threats such as FMD.
Mr Walsh said Australian agriculture was facing its biggest biosecurity threat in generations, and now was not the time to throw the gates open for public access to crown land bordering farms the length and breadth of the state’s river systems.
Mr Walsh said his Private Member’s Bill — the Land Amendment (Accessing Licensed Water Frontages) Bill 2022 — would have put power over leased waterfront land back into the hands of farmers and allowed them to maintain farm biosecurity.
But Labor used its numbers to kill the bill.
“By throwing out these necessary amendments to maintain farm biosecurity and also keep the general public safe, Labor has reconfirmed its total disregard for Victorian producers,” Mr Walsh said.
“Labor has once again shown its true colours by voting down changes that would allow farmers greater control over biosecurity on their licensed waterfront land leases.”
The proposed amendments would have authorised licensed holders to operate a biosecurity management plan on their entire property and require campers to obtain their permission to come on to the land.
They also allowed the relevant minister – on the advice of the chief veterinary officer or at the minister’s discretion – to restrict or prohibit access to, and camping on, any licensed water frontage if they reasonably believed it was necessary to do so in the interests of Victoria’s biosecurity, public safety, and/or animal welfare.
“This isn’t just about recreation and tourism — it is an $80 billion gamble on the part of the Andrews Labor Government just to score a few points with inner-city voters — but it is these farming families who keep food on the table of all Victorians,” Mr Walsh said.