Page 3 - National Poultry Newspaper

Planning for poultry farming
Manilda Group consistently contributes to regional Australia
OVER the past 60 years Manildra Group has consistently main- tained a strategy of investment in regional Australia by expand- ing and integrating its operations.
Constant innovation has led to a diverse product range supplying industries from food to pharmacy, fuel and en- ergy, building to brew- ing and more.
Our Australian-made ingredients are supplied to customers of all sizes from small bakeries to major corporations, including some of the most recognised brands in the world.
Our flour mill in Ma- nildra, NSW, where the company originated, is now the largest flour mill in Australia.
Today, we mill enough flour in one second for 100 loaves of bread, pro- cessing over one million metric tonnes of wheat
per annum – almost one-sixth of NSW’s to- tal annual production.
Through our focus on innovation and sus- tainability of Austral- ian manufacturing and agricultural industries, we have adopted a truly global outlook.
This constant innova- tion has been necessary to maintain a competi- tive edge and to meet the ever-changing de- mands of the export market.
We are driven to con- tribute to our nation’s export of superior food and value-added prod- ucts, manufactured by our strong and sustaina- ble domestic industries.
This drive to maintain international competi- tiveness has led to us being one of the two largest exporters of containers through Syd- ney’s main port.
We export to over 38 countries on every con-
tinent and domestically transport our products to more than 5000 loca- tions across the nation.
We will achieve our strategic vision to fur- ther expand our diver- sity of quality, value- added manufactured products derived from Australian agriculture.
Our goal is to profita- bly increase global mar- ket penetration through world-best practice pro- cesses and our singular commitment to com- plete customer satisfac- tion.
Our aim is to continue the growth and suc- cess for our company by helping our custom- ers achieve success for theirs, because together we grow.
We are proud of the contribution our Manil- dra Foundation makes to the community.
For more information, visit manildra.com.au
FROM humble begin- nings, the Queensland chicken meat and egg industries have rap- idly grown to become important and valuable livestock industries for our state – together they were worth over $800 million last year.
With Queensland chick- en growers now responsi- ble for about 23 percent of national production and our egg farmers about 29 percent, they have also be- come central to the coun- try’s ability to feed our- selves and others around the world.
The growth and expan- sion of intensive agricul- ture within Queensland provides various opportu- nities for rural and region- al areas to benefit from industry investment.
However, to achieve such benefits, barriers to productivity must be over- come.
The current regulatory framework has become convoluted and unneces- sarily complicated for in- tensive agriculture and the poultry industry.
Environmental regula- tions were identified as an area where complex- ity is a particular issue by the Productivity Com- mission’s inquiry into the regulation of Australian agriculture.
The report found envi- ronmental regulations are overly complex because there are multiple pieces of legislation with many overlapping state and lo-
cal government require- ments.
The duplication of amen- ity impact assessments in- cluding odour, dust and noise by the Queensland State Assessment and Re- ferral Agency’s environ- mental assessment and councils’ development ap- proval conditions is one such example.
This disparity between local government and state approval require- ments is often decided in court and at a significant cost to the applicant and the council, whereby it’s found to be operating out- side its jurisdiction.
For example, in the case of Phipps Pastoral v Somerset Regional Coun- cil (2016) QPEC 38, the council’s development approval conditions were found to be overly onerous as the farm was operating efficiently under the state imposed Environmental Authority.
The competing and often contradictory state and lo- cal government regulation places unnecessary and accumulated burden on farm businesses and cre- ates uncertainty.
Leadership from state and territory governments is necessary to guide local government planning and development to improve consistency.
In addition to the du- plication of regulation, local governments have recently increased rates for poultry businesses and other intensive agricultur- al industries.
During 2016, the Scenic Rim Regional Council re- viewed rates for ‘intensive industrial and rural indus- tries’, resulting in signifi- cant financial increases approaching 110 percent without any prior consul- tation or notification.
One farm business had its rates increased from $16,000 to $71,000 over two years – an increase of more than 440 percent.
This rate rise correlates with increased court ap- pearances, which begs the question, are councils us- ing the funds to cover the cost of litigating their de- velopment approval regu- lations?
Councils have asserted the increase is due to higher administrative costs associated with in- creased dust, odour and noise complaints from the local community.
However, if poultry businesses and intensive agriculture were no longer subject to local govern- ment amenity impact con- ditions, these increases would not be necessary.
With own-source rev- enue (revenue from rates,
fees and services) now making up 74 percent of total revenue for local governments, there must be a reasonable level of predictability in the rates levied on parcels of land.
It is imperative that lo- cal governments adhere to principles set out in the State Government’s Guideline on Equity and Fairness in Rating for Queensland Local Gov- ernments.
Any significant in- creases in rates should be reasonable and attributed to transparent changes to either the services or fa- cilities provided to land or to changed circumstances of the land.
A nd ratepayers should have timely access to local government budgets, cre- ating transparency about council budget processes.
There is scope to better support farm businesses to understand the regula- tions, which could lead to better outcomes.
However, the duplication of regulation and the as- sociated costs remain a barrier to the increased productivity and capacity of the poultry and other intensive agricultural in- dustries.
With Coles kicking off a new price war and reducing the price of its RSPCA- approved chicken breasts to the lowest in years, the last thing the industry needs is continued and unjustifi- able interference from local government.
www.qff.org.au
POULTRY RENDERING

transportation from farm and processing services for spent birds from New South Wales, Southern Queensland and Victoria.
CONTACT
Jason Graham 0428 149 704
jason.graham@manildra.com.au
manildra.com.au @manildra
www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, August 2018 – Page 3