This state election...the future is in the stalks, not the never-ending talks

As Queenslanders we stand at a pivotal moment – a rare opportunity to build a transformative new industry in our state. This is our chance to create thousands of jobs in our regions and inject billions into our state and local economies, while building on our already vibrant sugarcane industry.

Just as we harnessed the mining boom and embraced tourism, we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity before us. But it’s crucial that our government fully supports this vision as it unfolds.

As the state election approaches, CANEGROWERS is calling on all Queenslanders to lend their voice to the growing demand for the development of a sustainable biofuels industry.

A new industry that, if we work together, can sit side by side with our successful sugar industry.

Together, we can ignite a movement that will shape our future for the better.

Every election cycle, CANEGROWERS champions better outcomes for growers, but this time feels different. While we continue to push for lower input costs, reduced red tape and regulations, improved funding for research and development, and more, we also have a bold, transformative vision that can redefine our economy and protect our environment.

Imagine a future where thousands of jobs thrive in regional Queensland, where billions flow into local economies, and where we lead the way in sustainable aviation fuel.

This isn’t just a dream – it’s within our grasp if we commit to building a biofuels industry that uses sugarcane as its primary feedstock.

While countries like India and Brazil are racing ahead in establishing sustainable aviation fuel industries, we cannot afford to fall behind.

For the first time in our history, there’s a genuine desire among Australian airlines, private investors, and our government to invest in this future. Yet, so far, we’ve only seen words and minimal investment.

Now is the time to take decisive action!

We’re urging all political parties to recognise that the future is in the stalks – not in never-ending talks.

CANEGROWERS has developed an eight-point plan that will help achieve this goal, while also driving down costs and improving productivity and profitability.

In the following pages you will find a snapshoot of this plan, and the response to this plan from the political parties vying to lead the state.

Let’s build on our existing successful sugar industry with a new industry that generates jobs and addresses the urgent challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

If you believe in this vision for a prosperous Queensland, please join us! Visit growthforgenerations.com.au and make your voice heard. Together, we can call on our politicians to commit to a vibrant biofuels industry that benefits our regions, our state, and our planet.

Let’s seize this opportunity and shape a brighter future for all!

Parties pitch for grower vote

Ahead of this month’s Queensland State General Election, Australian Canegrower asked the major parties how they plan to support sugarcane growers.

Queensland Labor (Incumbent)

Queensland Labor Leader Steven Miles

Queensland’s cane farmers know Steven Miles has had their back since he was sworn into Parliament nearly 10 years ago.

Together, they pledged to protect the environment and our agricultural assets through the Cane Changer program. The cane industry has a rich history of innovation and resilience and the Miles government has supported you every step of the way.

When Mossman was hit by Cyclone Jasper and the Mossman Mill went into voluntary administration, the Premier offered $12.1 million to save the community and set out a plan for the future.

The funds will assist growers with transport and standover cane, and support council with new projects to transition the community to rely on a new economy.

The Government is working closely with Queensland agriculture producers, including the sugar industry, to achieve net zero emissions and value add to the supply chain.

Queensland is internationally recognised as the best place in Australia to establish a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply chain with feedstocks from cane, other crop residues, and possibly pongamia as Rio Tinto just announced in North Queensland.

We’re facilitating high-potential biorefinery projects, using feedstocks and technologies.

This full pipeline could contribute at least 750 metalitres of SAF per annum – enough to meet the Qantas commitment to a 10% SAF blend by 2030. This includes Jet Zero’s 113 metalitres SAF and Renewable Diesel facility in Townsville.

Following a $760,000 contribution to Jet Zero’s feasibility study, work continues to draw on sugarcane waste, providing another source of revenue for growers.

In central Queensland, the focus is on new food opportunities from sugarcane in partnership with Mackay Sugar and Queensland University of Technology to establish Mackay as a leading Bio Hub.

If elected, the Premier will continue with measures like Smartcane BMP; Reef Credits; AgTech adoption to support sustainability, traceability and resilience; SmartAg Queensland training through Queensland Farmers’ Federation and AgForce; and the Queensland Feral Pest Initiative including invasive plant and feral pig control.

For Queensland, biosecurity is economic security.

The Miles Labor Government will always fully fund Biosecurity Queensland and its increasing workforce, to focus on safeguarding our economy, environment, and way of life from the increasing risk and changing nature of biosecurity.

As your Premier, Steven Miles is committed to continuing to do what matters for Queensland.

Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP)

LNP Agriculture Spokesperson Tony Perrett

Queenslanders will be asking themselves at this election whether their lives are better or worse after almost a decade under Labor, and who has the right plan for Queensland’s future.

Queensland is a state built off the back of agriculture, and cane plays a strong part in this. Queensland sugarcane is renowned across the world and many of our rural and regional communities have thrived because of the cane industry.

The LNP’s vision for cane production in Queensland is bright, and we see cane playing a strong role in Queensland’s primary production for many years to come.

A future LNP Government will work to ensure the interests of Queensland CANEGROWERS are well represented and acted upon.

We want to see growers empowered by a government to allow them the confidence they need to invest more in their operations and expand into new markets across the world.

A future LNP Government will work collaboratively with industry to drive productivity and on-farm sustainability. We will work with industry, not against industry.

The LNP is committed to addressing concerns around energy tariffs and driving down the cost of electricity, improving disaster preparedness and investing in Queensland’s future agricultural workforce.

Industry led research is also critical to the future of the industry, and the LNP wants to ensure Queensland is at the cutting edge of on-farm productivity and innovation.

We believe farmers and landholders are the best environmentalists and champions of their land, and we want to see better support provided. The LNP has given consistent support for industry led best management practice programs like Smartcane BMP. The LNP has also given a public commitment to supporting renewable fuels and driving Queensland’s sustainable aviation fuel industry.

The LNP recently announced a major plan and critical funding package to ensure the ongoing future of the Mossman Mill that underpins this proud sugar community. The LNP’s historic $12.5 million investment will deliver immediate support for next year’s crop, and will be delivered if government changes in October. The LNP’s plan also includes funding to ensure the long-term success of Mossman’s sugar industry. In contrast, Labor has made it clear they plan to abandon Mossman’s cane industry in the hope of finding another untested option.

The LNP enjoys a strong and productive working relationship with CANEGROWERS , and we look forward to this continuing well into the future, regardless of the result on 26 October 2024.

Queensland Greens

Qld Greens Agriculture Spokesperson Michael Berkman

Life has been getting harder over the last few years because both major parties let big corporations rip us all off.

The Greens don’t take any corporate donations, so we’re on the side of everyday Queenslanders, not multinational profits.

We believe that agriculture is a vital part of Queensland’s economy and cultural history, and farmers should be celebrated, supported and rewarded for the role they play in producing our food and managing our natural resources.

Our plans to tax big mining corporations more fairly will fund better infrastructure and services across the state, helping to attract workers to the regions to address workforce shortages.

We’ll invest in fully funded state schools so regional schools don’t miss out, better public transport including highfrequency buses in 25 regional towns and cities, access to a free GP and 20 free psychology sessions for every Queensland community with 200 new free public health clinics, and a publicly owned developer to build 100,000 public homes across Queensland over six years, available to all Queenslanders to rent or buy at below-market prices.

And because we know that the best way to cut power bills for irrigators, households and small businesses is to reverse

privatisation, we’ll invest in 100% publicly owned renewable energy by 2030.

The Greens are committed to offering government support where insurance markets have failed, recognising that climate change is having profound impacts on insurance affordability. In the ACT, Greens in shared government have successfully phased out insurance duty and the Greens generally will work to replace stamp duties with more broadbased wealth taxes for a fairer system.

We’d also increase traineeships and apprenticeships in the areas of agriculture and primary production, and work with secondary schools, TAFEs and universities to promote agricultural sciences and biosecurity as career options.

The Greens also support:

• increased funding to tackle pests and biosecurity threats that hurt CANEGROWERS and the environment;

• ongoing support for Best Management Practice, to make sure growers doing the right thing are not undercut by less scrupulous competitors;

• partnering with farmers and adopting a localised approach to improving outcomes for water quality and river health; and

• assistance for farmers and primary producers to adopt ecologically sustainable farming systems.

With both major parties getting harder and harder to tell apart, the Greens are proposing a genuine alternative that means a little less for big corporations, and a lot more for ordinary Queenslanders.

Katter's Australian Party (KAP)

KAP Queensland Leader Robbie Katter

Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) has a long history of being fierce advocates for farmers across regional Queensland.

Since forming in 2011, the party has existed to ensure that Regional Queensland has an uncompromised voice in the Queensland Parliament.

KAP is focused on regional issues which guarantees the agriculture sector has a purest representation in parliament on topics that affect the regulation and legislation that governs farming practices across Queensland.

Our representation has stretched past advocacy and has led us to introducing bills into the Queensland Parliament.

In recent times KAP has:

• Passed KAP’s Sugar Industry (Real Choice in Marketing) bill, giving power back to growers

• Introduced KAP’s ‘Reversal of Great Barrier Reef Protection Measures’ bill

• Introduced ethanol mandate legislation and advocated for the biofuels industry

• Worked with Dr Peter Ridd and supported his ongoing scientific defence of farmers and refuted the basis of Labor’s Reef Regulations

• Supported Mossman growers when they were abandoned by the sitting Member for Cook. KAP brought growers together, took their request to the Premier, and secured immediate funding to address transport costs for the 2024 and future seasons.

KAP is based in North Queensland. We will always fight for North Queensland’s fair share by calling for:

• Scrapping of the Brisbane Olympics, and redirecting funds back to the regions

• The building of water infrastructure projects to advance Queensland Agriculture

• Prioritising the Bruce Highway and Western Development Roads over more south-east rail or tunnel projects

• Scrapping unnecessary emissions targets that were introduced by Labor and backed by the LNP – emissions targets are threatening regional jobs and increasing the cost of electricity

• A stop to price gouging and undercutting of farmers by major supermarket chains

• The establishment of a rural bank with the express purpose of developing North Queensland and nation building industries.

KAP will continue to do the heavy lifting for the Queensland agricultural sector. This means working to scrap Labor’s farm destroying reef regulations, addressing development supressing tree clearing laws and restoring funding for the advancement of the sugar industry, feral pest and weed control and increased biosecurity measures to protect industry.

One Nation Queensland

One Nation Queensland Secretary Damian Huxham

One Nation has always gone into bat for Queensland's world-leading sugarcane industry.

One Nation's Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts were instrumental in the creation of a mandatory code of conduct for the industry in 2017 to resolve the dispute over supply agreements between QSL and Wilmar, leveraging their share of the balance of power in the Senate to ensure the Turnbull government acted to protect the returns of cane growers. We'll continue to support this important Queensland industry.

With farmers some of the nation's biggest consumers of electricity, One Nation supports an independent energy policy which prioritises affordability and reliability. We oppose the net-zero policies of the LNP and Labor that are driving the spread of toxic renewables across regional Queensland and driving record electricity costs.

One Nation will back projects that improve water security for cane growers, and food security for the nation. We support building new dams, and reducing the cost of water needed by farmers.

We recognise that Australian farmers are the best stewards of their land, and we acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of cane growers over many years to reduce the environmental impacts of their businesses. One Nation will continue to support growers in achievable and affordable efforts to mitigate environmental impacts and improve water quality.

One Nation strongly supports government assistance to farmers in times of natural disasters. It is One Nation policy to eliminate Queensland government stamp duty on insurance premiums to reduce business and household costs.

We support value-adding in Queensland agriculture, and One Nation is happy to work with the sugar industry to explore aviation fuel and bioplastic opportunities and build greater resilience and profitability for the sector.

One Nation supports the revival of dedicated agricultural colleges to provide training and employment opportunities and build a skilled, sustainable Australian rural workforce.

One Nation does not oppose targeted government support for agricultural research, development and extension provided it's fairly matched by grower and industry contributions and achieves real productivity and profitability gains that benefit the Queensland economy. We're happy to support assistance for research that ensures a prosperous future for cane growers.

One Nation believes in the right to farm. We'll always fight to protect and support Queensland's $27 billion farming, fisheries and forestry sector, and we'll always back Queensland's cane growers.