[Greens-Media] MEDIA RELEASE - SENATOR CHRISTINE MILNE - Special tax treatment for plantations driving conflict in rural communities

[Willis, Katrina (Sen C. Milne)]

MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, 25 August 2006

Special tax treatment for plantations driving conflict in rural
communities

The Australian Greens today called on the Howard government to remove
the favourable tax treatment for plantation forest investment because it
is driving conflict in rural communities and threatening the future of
agricultural land.

Greens Senator for Tasmania, Christine Milne, said the tax rules
favoured high-income earners looking for tax concessions and placed
farmers at a disadvantage when trying to purchase farmland.

"Tasmanian farmers have had enough. They do not get on their tractors
for nothing. When is the Prime Minister going to hear the message that
his trade and tax policies are driving them off the land?" Senator Milne
said in Devonport.

"Forestry Minister Senator Eric Abetz wants to retain the special tax
treatment, which allows investors to claim the costs of establishing
commercial forest plantations in a single year, instead of spreading
depreciation over the life of the investment as happens for other
agricultural enterprises.

"The short-term tax reductions that high earners stand to make under
these arrangements are distorting investment decisions. Farmers and
rural communities are rightly concerned about the loss of agricultural
land and the impact of timber plantations on water catchments. Around 15
per cent of the state's farmland has been converted to plantation.

"Farming communities are already struggling under the Howard
government's trade policies, unable to compete on fair terms with
low-priced imported produce. 

"Now Minister Abetz is adding insult to injury by backing a call from
the National Association of Forest Industries to look at importing
workers for the forestry industry in regions where people need
employment.

"The government is always saying that it supports the free market. Why
is it, then, so intent on distorting the market to favour rich city
investors against Australian farmers?

"The Greens want to see our rural farming communities remain viable. The
government must change the tax rules to remove the unfair advantages for
commercial forest plantations."

Contact: Katrina Willis 03 6234 4566 or 0437 587 562


Katrina Willis
Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
Phone 03 6234 4566
Fax 03 6234 2144
Mobile 0437 587 562
www.christinemilne.org.au