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Minister For Agriculture To Hold Public Meeting

Community members with an interest in agriculture are invited to attend a public meeting on Friday 1 July where Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh will be a guest speaker.

By Russell Northe - 1st July 2011 - Back to News

Speaking in Parliament last night, Mr Northe requested that the Minister visit the region to discuss important agricultural initiatives as introduced by the Coalition Government that will impact the agriculture sector in the Morwell electorate.

"The Minister indicated he would attend the open meeting to be held at 6:00pm at the Traralgon Football Club (Whittakers Road) and that this meeting would be open to all members of the public who may have an interest in local agricultural issues," said Mr Northe.

"A number of community members have made contact with me over the past few months seeking information on State Government initiatives that could benefit the agricultural sector in the Latrobe Valley.

"Initiatives of interest include a First Farm Buyers stamp duty exemption which will take effect from 1 July 2011. For contracts entered into from this date, young farmers aged under 35 who buy their first farmland property valued up to $300 000, will be exempt from paying stamp duty.

"The Victorian Coalition Government has also allocated $3.5 million over four years to enable Victorian farmers to have greater access to debt mediation services. The new Farm Debt Mediation Scheme will encourage financial institutions to undertake a mediation process with farmers before initiating debt recovery proceedings

"In addition, the introduction of a fox and wild dog bounty which will come into effect in October 2011 has been well received across many regional communities."

Mr Northe said whilst such initiatives are important there are also many challenges that confront local farming communities.

"Agriculture is vitally important to many of our smaller communities in the Morwell electorate and I know organisations such as the Latrobe City Farm Ratepayers Association will welcome the opportunity to discuss first hand with the Minister some of the existing challenges in the industry.

"Public consultation is a great way to gain insight into the intricacies of what it is like to be involved heavily in agriculture and farming, and I encourage all interested community members to come along and have their say."

Date: Friday 1 July

Time: 6:00pm

Venue: Traralgon Football Club

Whittakers Road, Traralgon

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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