The Federal Government’s removal of the third tranche of the Tasmanian Irrigation Scheme from the Infrastructure Priority List comes as a blow to Tasmanian farmers who are now at serious risk of losing a generational project for good.
The third tranche would help unlock new opportunities for Tasmanian farmers by supporting sustainable water capture and distribution, enabling landholders to have the option to shift into higher-value agriculture such as fruit and viticulture that Tasmania produces at world-best quality.
Liberal Senator for Tasmania Jonno Duniam says that it would boost farm productivity and strengthen Tasmania’s broader agricultural sector, urging Federal Tasmanian Labor members to do all they can to ensure this project is not left out of the Federal budget in May.
“Tranche three of the Tasmanian Irrigation Scheme is vital for our farmers to expand their businesses and employ more Tasmanians, but it is at dire risk of being dropped by the Federal Labor Government,” Senator Duniam said.
“The Federal Liberals committed to this project because we want our farmers to have every opportunity to explore new crops and expand their businesses, employing more people and creating more economic activity in Tasmania.”
“However, Federal Labor members have been silent on this. We have the Federal Minister for Agriculture as one of our representatives in Canberra, yet we are looking down the barrel of one of the only agriculture projects with Federal funding in our state being dropped.”
“The Federal Liberals implore Tasmanian Labor members like Anne Urquhart, Jess Teesdale, Rebecca White and Carol Brown to put a line under this project and commit to tranche three in full.”
“If the Federal Labor Government drop this project, it would likely cost too much in the future. This is why they need to commit now, as the Federal Liberals did, and back in Tasmanian farmers who are looking for some sort of comfort from this Government.”
“Federal Labor is gaslighting Tasmanians into thinking that they are on our side. With fuel shortages affecting everyone except EV owners, anti-forestry environmental laws and green and red tape strangling businesses, and leaving salmon workers on tenterhooks for years, they sadly don’t understand our state or the regions.”