Cattle Council of Australia has called upon the major political parties to address the issues of road infrastructure, mobile black spots and the NBN network in the run-up to the July 2 election.
CCA chief executive officer Jed Matz said the lack of reliable access to telecommunications was a major constraint on the productivity of beef producers.
Mr Matz said beef producers needed access to reliable telecommunications to enable them to capitalize on the productivity improvements that use the technology.
“Council would like to see continued investment in the NBN Fixed Wireless network to manage the capacity of the NBN’s Long Term Satellite Service,’’ he said.
“The current state of infrastructure in rural Australia is damaging the competitiveness of the beef industry,’’ he said.
“There is a need for the Federal Government, in collaboration with the States and Territories, to invest in improving the road and rail networks to enable the whole beef supply chain to improve its efficiency.
“Producers are experiencing huge inefficiencies with transport costs amounting up to 40 per cent of the price received.’’
Cattle Council is pushing to have a funding extension to the Northern Beef Roads program.
Producers in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Far North Queensland are required to transport cattle for long distances to access processing plants and the over-the-hook methods, impacting on their profitability.
A $10 million solution to long-running transport issues in the beef capital of Rockhampton was announced in March.
A new route to the city’s abattoirs involving upgrades to several intersections will allow direct road train access.
Cattle Council of Australia had worked closely with AgForce Queensland to deliver this key piece of infrastructure investment for the Australian beef industry.