24 Sep 2024. Georgie Somerset, AgForce President.
It’s only a matter of days before we all gather as colleagues and friends alike at the RNA Showgrounds for the 2024 Queensland Agricultural Industry Conference.
On Tuesday and Wednesday October 1 and 2, AgForce will host this important industry symposium. It’s a big event – the first conference we’ve held for years – and deliberately placed in the calendar just under 4 weeks shy of polling day for the state election.
Getting the three major parties engaged in the conference during the election campaign was no easy feat. Yet it was vital, because we as primary producers need to know where they stand on the rural issues important to us. Their confirmation of attendance shows they know that too.
Given this rare chance of access to our state leaders, the opportunities for our industry are significant. It’s vital we communicate how crucial it is that we protect our enviable food security status that has been a hallmark of Australia for generations. The moment we take it for granted is when it starts to disappear.
It’s also critical that we take this opportunity to communicate the risks, which continue to lurk close to the surface as margins tighten, costs continue to climb, and unnecessary red and green tape hampers our industry, all while we continue to struggle to have our voice heard in important conversations.
Perhaps it is some of our significant recent wins such as our effective campaign for better protections for the Great Artesian Basin that has moved us up their list of priorities, or perhaps it is more broadly the growing realisation that the settings of the next government relating to agriculture make a material difference to all Queenslanders.
Whatever it is, we are glad to have them in the room along with some powerful industry leaders for two days of conversations that will be enormously consequential to our future prospects.
Across biosecurity, land use, vegetation management, education pathways, and infrastructure it really is time for a step change to ensure our great industry can continue to power Queensland, build resilient communities and landscapes and allow the next generation to continue to thrive producing food and fibre for the state.
The two-day program includes a powerful line up that will help map out how we do that, ensuring a rich learning and engagement experience for those that can make it. It’s not too late – you still have a week to register.
We also believe and hope it will make a difference to the policy settings for all parties as they head into the final weeks of their election campaigns.
There are still some tickets available. We hope to see as many of you there as possible, whilst acknowledging that for some, other commitments will preclude their attendance this time.
