Victoria’s main farmers’ group has come out against the Federal Government’s proposed carbon tax, saying farmers would be worse off under the scheme.
The Victorian Farmers Federation maintains the costs of the tax far outweigh any possible gains from the Government’s proposed carbon farming initiative.
VFF president Andrew Broad said it would campaign against the tax, which would have a detrimental impact on agriculture and on rural communities.
“All of the investigative work done on both a state and national basis into pricing carbon has shown that farmers will be worse off under the scheme,” Mr. Broad said yesterday.
“The impact this new tax will have on farm inputs, such as fuel and fertiliser, will far outweigh any possible gains achieved through the carbon farming initiative.”
Under the CFI, which would be a voluntary scheme, farmers would be paid for storing carbon in trees and soil or reducing their own emissions.
They would sell carbon credits direct to businesses that wanted to offset emissions or become carbon neutral.
The National Farmers’ Federation had welcomed the CFI legislation, introduced in Parliament last month, saying it addressed a number of concerns.
But Mr. Broad said the carbon tax would mean Australian farmers couldn’t compete against producers overseas.
“The huge costs associated with this tax on inputs and processing would render Australian farmers uncompetitive domestically and in international markets,” he said.
Agriculture is to be excluded from an eventual carbon tax, but the Federal Government believes paying landowners to store carbon would cut emissions in the farming sector.
