Finally, something.
Funding though is probably not the country's main problem. Though it is needed.
Government bureaucracy is. Because of back flipping antics WorkCover, and Farm Safety etc have strangled the opportunities of farmers. Everything is over regulated making it impossible to do anything. I'm not even game to take my mates around the farm any more (well, my good mates are an exception), because of the way people in power whinge. We're probably at fault if a tree branch falls on somene because we failed to secure it. It's becoming increasingly harder for farmers to employ workers because they have complicated and confusing rules to follow. And what they are expected to do is lacks logic and common sense.
Enough about that, I don't know too much about it because I don't follow any safety procedures (like I'd sue my family), but we probably still could be fined for something or other.
Anyway, another problem is the way the government, both State and Federal, treat farmers. They threaten us with inferior imports and acts such as this Free Trade Deal, which fucked Sugar Can farmers, and not to mention others. Deregulation of the dairy industry closed many farms. Besides that is the unscrupulous methods of retailers. How much do you pay for eggs, chicken, prok, milk, vegetables, steak? Of that the farmer gets ten percent (I'm not certain?). I do know this, the farm gate price for milk was around fifty cents (haven't checked in ages). A chicken farmer earns fifty cents per bird, (check the price of chicken on shelves, along with eveything else). I haven't been to a cattle sale recently, butI know the prices are steady, but somewhere along there is a discrepancy between the farmer's cut, the abbattoirs cut, and the retailer's price. And one of them isn't justifiable.
For more accurate prices check the latest Land Paper. and read the columnist in the letters section. He usually has a good deal to say, most of it right on.
Anyway, the government seems to pushing for more and more people in to jobs that actually produce nothing (lawyers, hairdressers, etc). This country was built on farmers and they are taking the land beneath their feet. But this is not only farmers, it's a lot more than farmers. Some Blue Collar trades ain't faring so well either.
But it seems that this blind pursuit of Capitalism extremes is leading to the detriment of Australia. Once all of us are accountants and shop assistants, what then?
We'll be a country with nothing tangible to trade. We'll be relying so heavily on imports (and Howard is pushing this) that at the first sign of calamity, such as a war (directly affecting Australia, or maybe even indirectly), we lose our imports and then we're fucked.
But moreso, and I'm sure some economist will have a good argument for this. If we end up a country of highly paid professionals and only import, and do not export, won't our dollar sink beyond belief and we'll end up third world.
Still, atleast farmers are finally getting a little financial help....
