Richard Dawkins: Federated Farmers forestry spokesperson on the Government's approach to carbon forestry

There's a belief many farmers will be feeling disappointed and betrayed after a report to Parliament on the ban of carbon forestry. 

The Environment Select Committee’s recommendations show carbon farms across productive farmland, won't be coming to a stop. 

Currently under the Emission Trading Scheme there's a ban on whole-farm conversions for land that's not used for beef and sheep farming. 

Federated Farmers forestry spokesperson Richard Dawkins told Mike Hosking this still puts beef and sheep at risk of full conversions. 

He says there's less export income without a productive meat industry. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the land v Tree debates hotted up again. I'm
afraid to tellyfed farmer is not happy. They see loopholes
and what the government are trying to do around the
productive farmland via the carbon offsets and planting pine trees,
et cetera. Richard Dawkins's fed Farmer's forestry man, and he's well,
there's Richard morning.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mine's tricky one, this isn't it the line between what
a government or the rules of the day are versus
what a person should be able to do with their land.
I mean, where do you land on That's.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I don't think it's complex at at all. Actually, Mike,
look what we're advocating for. It still allows owners to
do what they choose with their land. And that's a
really important point. The proposals are a twenty five percent
restriction on carbon credits, on your ability to claim carbon.
It's not actually a restriction on what you can and

(00:44):
can't do with your.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Land, the intent to plant thing that seemingly has been sorted.
Has it been sorted and has it been sorted to
your satisfaction?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, time will only tell on that, Mike. What I
can say is they have tightened up that loophole, which
which is great to see. So foresters now need two requirements. Well,
they need to prove that the ordered seedlings and are
intended to buy land before December. The fourth site has
tightened up it.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Okay, So just to explain to people that haven't followed this,
people are buying seedlings, they don't have the land. They say, look,
we're going to eventually buy some land. So they've tightened
up on that aspect.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Of it, right, Yeah, that's right. But the major hole
still is the fact that the majority of sheep and
beef farms, you know, the engine room that drives our industry,
are on classes six and seven, and there's no restrictions
on the ability to claim carbon on class seven, and
fifteen thousand hectares can still be converted on class six.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
So class one to five is only twelve percent versus
your six and seven, which is as you say, you
beef and sheep. So do they need to move on
six or seven or do something with one in five
or more with one in five?

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, So the restrictions are on classes one to five,
so the twenties only can claim twenty five percent of
the carbon on that land. But we'd really like to
see that extended to classes six and seven as well.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
How big is the gap between you and the government.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Oh, look at it's a simple amendment. It's a very
easy change. Just have the restrictions from class one to five.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
That they need to agree with your richard and that
turns out they don't.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, I think there's a bit of hedging their bets there,
sort of trying to keep both industries happy. But at
the end of the day, people need to realize without
the productive sheep and beef industry, we have less the
export income as a country and our imports cost more.
So worried about it.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Good point is what's happening on farm at the moment.
Beef and sheep wise exports money, et cetera. Is that
turning the debate? Do you think? Because I mean every
man and his dog can see how good this is.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Returns are a hell of a lot better on farm.
But there's a simple economic reality, Mike that the returns
from basically these licenses to pollute, licenses for big coure
corporates to pollote through carbon farming, you can never compete
with it in a free market. Sheep returns would have
to increase exponentially to even compete. And this is a

(03:10):
government created market, and we're an unsubsidized farming industry, so
it's just not a level playing field.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Always good to talk to, you appreciate it, Richard Dawkins,
who's with the Fed Farmers.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
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