Ahead of the State Election on Saturday, WAFarmers has released their much-anticipated scorecard which outlines the major parties’ acknowledgements of agricultural issues and how they intend to address them.
The scorecard, which addresses the agricultural policies of Labor, Liberals, The Greens, Nationals, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, rates the parties on whether they had acknowledged the issues outlines in the WAFarmers Policy Platform, regardless of whether the party’s views echoed WAFarmers’ sentiments or not.
WAFarmers President Tony York said it was important to recognise when a party had addressed an issue, positively or negatively when viewed against the WAFarmers Policy Platform.
“Taking into account our consultation with the parties, other available information related to the parties’ campaigns and alignment to the WAFarmers Policy Platform, we have rated the performance of the parties as way to hold them accountable to their election promises,” he said.
“While some parties have made commitments towards numerous items across the WAFarmers Policy Priority list and the separate Wish List, which we have welcomed, we wanted to present a holistic approach to those following our campaign.
“We have chosen to acknowledge the parties’ commitments to our policies alongside any other relevant commentary made during their campaigns, so we recommend reading the references page we have developed together with scorecard.”
Mr York said there was a mixed bag of results for agriculture leading into the election.
“While some parties appear to be more suitable than others when looking at the entire platform, there is still a considerable way to go for all parties to ensure that agriculture is marked as an economic and policy priority for the state,” he said.
“That said, we were pleased that all parties committed to reforming fire mitigation protocols and structures to limit the number and severity of wild bush fires experience in WA, and highly encouraged by significant commitments made towards the Regional Livestock Saleyard Strategy, grains industry research and development, increasing connectivity in regional and remote areas through the improvement of telecommunications infrastructure, and improving road access and freight routes.
“We hope that the content of the scorecard will help voters to make an informed choice this Saturday that will benefit Western Australia’s agricultural sector in the coming years.
“We look forward to working with the incoming government to further the interests of the state’s agricultural industry and capitalise on current and existing opportunities to ensure competitive, sustainable and profitable future.”
- WAFarmers 2017 State Election Scorecard
- WAFarmers 2017 State Election Scorecard – References
- WAFarmers State Election 2017 Policy Platform
ENDS.
All media requests must be directed to WAFarmers Media and Communications Officer Melanie Dunn on (08) 9486 2100 or [email protected].
