[Greens-Media] WA Greens - Greens Slam Sell Off of WA Family Farms - Paul Llewellyn

[Anderson, Sonia]

16 December 2008

GREENS SLAM SELL OFF OF WA FAMILY FARMS

"The Minister for Agriculture is betraying his constituency and failing the agricultural industry by supporting the sale of Western Australian farm land", says Greens MLC Paul Llewellyn.

"The Minister has abandoned the wheatbelt farming community, and others, in favour of overseas business interests", he said.

"Mr Redman needs to go out to the farmers in the farming community and ask them what they think of selling off our farms and control over our agricultural land and food security.

"In a recent meeting in my office Minister Redman admitted that his party came to government with no written agriculture policy. The Minister is following his nose and making decisions and statements on the run", Mr Llewellyn said.

"Before supporting a land sell off the Minister should seek advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board, which treats any proposed sale of agricultural land as a stand- alone category.

Mr Llewellyn said the Greens support the development of trading and operating partnerships with overseas investors and initiatives that contribute to the ongoing health and viability of regional economies and communities, and which contribute to the good management of our land and soils.

"We want to see long term, environmentally sustainable, wealth building initiatives which revitalise regional economies, communities and the land, not whole-sale sell offs", he said.