NFF to address ACCC Grocery Inquiry in Canberra today
NATIONAL Farmers’ Federation (NFF) Vice-President Charles Burke will today present to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) Grocery Pricing Inquiry between 1-5pm at Rydges Lakeside, London Circuit, in Canberra. The NFF will assert that consumers – feeling the pinch of rising food bills – are entitled to know what is driving higher grocery prices. […]
Recruit workforce from Pacific Islands say farmers
TODAY the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) released the first in a series of targeted initiatives to fix a shortfall of 100,000 employees across the farm sector – its Workforce from Abroad Employment Scheme. “This builds on our broader strategy under the Labour Shortage Action Plan (released last week) by specifically profiling and targeting horticulture, which […]
Farmers urged to sign-up for ‘Farm Day 08’
AUSTRALIAN farmers – across all states – are being asked to throw open their gates to a city family for a day in May as part of breaking down barriers to metropolitan understanding about modern farm practices. Farm Day provides unique hands-on experiences and insight, along with the ability to answer all those “where does […]
NFF launches ‘action plan’ to tackle jobs crisis
TODAY the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) released its blueprint for overcoming the chronic labour crisis that plagues regional Australia, with the warning that when farmers emerge from drought some 100,000 new employees will be needed to return to pre-drought production levels. The NFF’s Labour Shortage Action Plan (the Plan) makes 42 recommendations to address the […]
Farmers to work with schools to ease skills shortage
THE National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is calling on Australian farmers to team up with their local schools in establishing Trade Training Centres – newly funded on-campus learning centres that give students stimulating hands-on experience in agricultural trades. An initiative of the Australian Government, the scheme gives local secondary schools the opportunity to apply for funding […]
Good reason for optimism, but high prices bring greater risks
HIGH international agricultural commodity prices are giving Australian farmers good reason to be optimistic about 2008, however failure to adequately manage rising input costs could erode their ability to capitalise on improved conditions, according to the latest results from the Westpac-NFF Commodity Index. The Index recorded a fresh 20-year high in global agricultural prices this […]
ACCC Inquiry to quash food pricing myths
CONSUMERS – increasingly attuned to rising food bills – are justified in wanting to know what is driving higher food prices. Likewise, Australian farmers are just as eager for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to get to the bottom of where the money is going, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) said today. “The […]
CPI the limit on wages growth says NFF
LODGING its submission to the Australian Fair Pay Commission’s (AFPC’s) 2008 General Wage Review today, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is calling for an increase in the minimum wage commensurate with no more than the Consumer Price Index (CPI). “Capping minimum wages growth in line with CPI – equating to not more than $15 per […]
NSW farmers get all clear to harness GM technology
FARMERS in NSW are now free to commercially grow genetically modified (GM) canola after the NSW Government’s acceptance of the recommendations of the independent public review on the technology today. “Farmers can now match their international counterparts in accessing new varieties of canola that have the potential to make them more efficient and competitive on […]
Farmers slam hike in heavy vehicle charges
TODAY’S decision by the Australian Transport Council to increase heavy vehicle charges only adds to the growing list of escalating costs that slug farmers, according to the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF). “The obvious lack of any transparent link between the new pricing determination and productivity gains is alarming,” NFF Vice-President Charles Burke declared. “Surely if […]