Who's got a mining company in their back pocket?

Zero Commission Livestock Selling - Agents and Private sellers, you can now sell your Livestock for free on Farm Tender. Check out how it works here.

To receive this newsletter in your inbox each day, just register with Farm Tender here.

By Dwain Duxson

Who's got a mining company in their back pocket? - Australia's richest woman Gina Rineheart made a speech at the Bush Summit conference yesterday outlining that Australian Agriculture won't be able to afford the expenses Government's net-zero targets. Think of her what you like of her, and usually, she doesn't make too much sense when talking about Ag (too broad and nothing new), but she is right on the money with this one.

Gina is probably one step ahead with her thinking on this subject. I would argue that only a small percentage of Farmers are thinking about how they are going to contribute to net-zero. And most of us don't have a clue of how much it's going to affect our hip pockets. 

The extra expenses, she said, will come in the form of "electrifying everything on the Farm". She added, "It's going to cost a fortune that Farmers and Pastoralists don't have without a mining company in their back pocket. They just don't have the money to be able to invest. The Government will have to cover the cost of transition."

The Government will want to get their way because they have committed to a timeline target. And they think Ag is where they are going to get their best gains. But Farmer's view sustainability as being able to pay the bills and have something left over at the end of the season. Investing in things that Governments want them to do is way down the pecking order. Rightly, they will fully protect their own businesses and families before anything else. A mining company in your back pocket, we can only wish....

End of message