Leader of The Nationals David Little-proud said Labor’s new climate-related financial disclosure policy is another attack on farmers and fresh food.
Mr Littleproud said the draconian Bill, forcing entities to document their indirect greenhouse gas emissions, known as ‘Scope 3’, will make food more expensive amid a cost-of-living crisis, while also causing confusion and uncertainty for farmers and small businesses.
“Labor’s proposed Scope 3 measures are another example of Labor coming after the agriculture sector and making life harder for small businesses,” Mr Littleproud said.
“During a cost-of-living crisis, Labor is increasing the burden on the farming industry.
“This will make prices even more expensive at the supermarket checkout for families, because farmers will be forced to pass on costs and when supply goes down, prices go up.
“As Leader of The Nationals, I firmly believe Scope 3 needs to be entirely removed, given the enormous burden this would place on our farming industry, as well as the lack of data and measurement available.”
Mr Littleproud said large reporting entities could pass their risk down through the supply chain.
For example, banks could factor in a farmer’s emissions data in their lending decisions, or supermarkets could require farmers to report their emissions, even though farmers don’t even have the science to do so.
Mr Littleproud added Labor’s policy could also have significant compliance costs with accounting and recording on-farm emissions.
“The Bill is a compliance green tape time bomb, with Treasury’s own figures estimating this measure will cost $2.3 billion a year in compliance costs and this doesn’t include any potential cost to farmers.
“This unfair and bureaucratic burden comes despite Australian farmers already having some of the best land management practices in the world.
“Given there is currently no standardised method for calculating land and livestock emissions in Australia, this policy is downright dangerous.
“There are also concerns about the disclosure of data, how it will be utilised and shared and if some industry groups might be discriminated against.
“The United States has completely removed its Scope 3 reporting requirement, which would have otherwise pushed some farmers and other entities out of business.
“In Australia, we can fulfil our international climate commitments, without a confusing and harmful Scope 3 system.”
