To Ros Spence MP Minister for Agriculture

Australia’s prime food production land is being snapped up all over Australia by large companies, including companies that aren’t Australian, in order to grow trees for carbon credits. Some of these companies include Gina Rinehart and a German superannuation company. 

NO FOOD is going to be grown on the properties that they are accumulating! Only pines and the destructive BLUE GUMS.

 Now it’s pretty obvious that we cannot eat blue gums or pines so what will Australia be eating?

I know this because I just bought an old house on 5 acres based on the advertised view and the fact that it’s prime food production land. Our plan was to grow organic food to help with my health issues. I’m a double transplant patient with chronic health issues and now we find that next door will be repeatedly sprayed with roundup and other chemicals, bulldozed and pine plantations planted. Imagine our absolute devastation finding this out a WEEK after purchasing. But because it’s considered agriculture, no one needed to advise us of this!! Now we can’t do anything about our situation but we can fight to make sure no one else goes through this! There is ZERO transparency with what is happening here!

Everything that these companies are doing is classed as AGRICULTURE which means that they DO NOT  need to do any permits, any environmental impact statements or any community consultation. Communities in the south west of Victoria are being wiped out! With them goes the farming knowledge of the area. 

Let’s use Southwest Victoria as an example. This is Australia’s prime dairy, sheep and cattle industry and has prime grazing land that has fed Australia for many years.

This is now being snapped up by these large companies - approaching farmers directly and offering them above the land value, purchasing the property and planting blue gums or pines under the guise of “agriculture”. Is land banking happening? How do we tell??

These trees can be planted in non populated areas however they are targeting our PRIME FOOD PRODUCTION AREAS for our rain fall and excellent soil. This means less maintenance for them and that equals more profit. 

Legislation needs to be changed IMMEDIATELY in order for this to stop!! Otherwise what will Australians be eating?? 

Let’s get this petition momentum and present it to the government and SAVE AUSTRALIAS FOOD SOURCES