Farmers for Climate Action supporters have raised over $20,000 to crowd-fund the research.
Farmers and rural leaders from across Australia have today set up a new taskforce – the Rural Futures Taskforce – tackling the big issue of economic and community development for rural, regional and remote communities.
“Rural and regional Australia is facing a range of unprecedented challenges; including climate change and conflicting land use across some of our prime agricultural regions,” said Verity Morgan-Schmidt, CEO of agricultural advocacy group Farmers for Climate Action.
“In Western Queensland alone, 1,500 people have left the region over recent years and the number of primary school aged kids enrolled has halved.
“We’re seeing farmers struggling with high debt levels, increasing pressure from incompatible extractive industries and the widespread implications of drought, and a changing climate.
“Right now, the Government’s taxpayer-funded ‘Resources Taskforce’ is investigating how they can make it easier for new mines to open in rural and regional Australia, but this misses the big picture of regional Australia’s full potential.”
Taskforce member Jim McDonald is a mixed farmer from Quirindi in NSW. He joined the taskforce because he is passionate about supporting socially, economically and ecologically sustainable rural communities in the face of climate change.
“Our Taskforce will come up with recommendations for how Government can help diversify regional economies in ways that don’t rely on boom-and-bust mining cycles, and that don’t destroy our land, water and climate,” said Jim McDonald.
Taskforce member and Uralla farmer Dave Mailler said: “We need to embrace innovation to diversify and strengthen our regional economies, and our local communities.”
Farmers for Climate Action supporters have raised over $20,000 to crowd-fund the research.
The Rural Futures Taskforce will deliver a report in early August 2018 with recommendations for what governments can do to accelerate the transition beyond extractive industries to strong, diversified rural economies.
