Malcolm J Richardson, Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
1. What is your stance on climate change and your policies regarding it?
The climate is always changing, we need to be looking the big polluters and finding better ways to reduce the harm being done. Buying and locking up huge “carbon farms” isn’t the answer. Neither is “Net Zero” which will kill the Maranoa. We need to have a close look at nuclear power technologies and have a discussion about this as an alternative.
2. How do you plan on ensuring the safety of the roads in the Southern Downs?
Currently, roads are built to budget, not to purpose. That is a flawed way of building. We need to build better to ensure the life of the road. It isn’t about roads, its about the lives that travel them. There are roads here built in the 50’s that are better than today’s roads. We need to ensure the quality of the job and hold the contractors accountable for their work.
3. What are your policies regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)?
NDIS is a complex machine. It has too many moving parts to deliver the service properly. We need to put the delivery of the NDIS in the hands of allied health providers and remove the corporate greed from the system. A review of how the funds are being distributed also needs to be undertaken.
4. How will you combat the rising cost of living?
I believe reducing income tax for the low and middle income earners will see some relief. By reducing operating costs for transport operators, we will see goods delivered cheaper, in turn reducing the costs to the consumer. Whilst ever fuel and transport costs rise in rural areas, so will cost of living.
5. What are your policies regarding the Ag Visa?
Ag Visa suits a purpose. We should be addressing the unwillingness to work by younger people. Subsidising visa worker wages could also be applied to Australian workers. We need to address the reasons Australians aren’t filling these positions. Wage assistance from Government doesn’t flow to local wages.
6. How will you and your party support our growers, given the rising costs of production?
Next to defence, farmers are the most important part of our country’s survival. As with transport, the cost of fuel is one of the biggest problems farmers face. By reducing taxes and excise on fuels and machinery, removing compliance fees and government charges, and looking for better trade agreements, we can reduce some of the costs borne by the farmer and help increase income.
I have written about reducing taxes and excise in many of the responses above. To offset these, we need to reduce our foreign aid spending, negotiate better trade deals with our partners, increase mining royalties on exported minerals and reduce the cost of Government, starting with the reduction and freezing of political salaries, and the removal of political pensions. We serve at the pleasure of the Australian people, and we are not there to take advantage of that.
