Tax-incentive legislation will assist major corporations, take rural land out of agricultural production, says Greens Party MP
Posted by gmarkets on 11 October, 2007
Christine Milne MP (Greens Party Senator) speaking against proposed tax incentive legislation, stated that the legislation would result in water and land being removed from agricultural production.
Riot in rural Australia: Milne said: “… there will be a riot in rural Australia when they find out that the cashed-up large emitters—that is, the cement companies, the aluminium companies, the energy corporations—can effectively use their profits to take land out of agricultural production and take water out of agricultural production. Of course, trees need water just as much as crops do.”
Deforestion must stop: Milne considered it appalling that the government refused to allow the legislation to be referred for proper analysis. She said: “Everybody knows that, if you really were serious about sequestering carbon in forests, you would stop the logging of native forests and stop the clearing of land across Australia… Instead, we have a government driving deforestation in the Tiwi Islands. It is deforestation when you convert tropical savannah to monocultures.”
Reference: Christine Milne, Senator for Tasmania, Australian Greens Party, Senate Hansard, Commonwealth of Australia, 20 September 2007.
