Darren Chester MP

August 12, 2010

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester says he will fight for East Gippsland’s fair share of a $20 million program to help deal with the increasing wild dog problem if the Coalition wins the August 21 election.

The Federal Coalition has promised the $20 million Feral Animal Control Program to complement existing State Government funding.

The funding forms part of The Nationals comprehensive plan to boost Australian agriculture and ensure food security both now and into the future, according to Mr Chester.

July 16, 2010

Positive rainfall and opening milk prices have put Gippsland dairy farmers a long way in front of where they were 12 months ago, according to The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester.

Murray Goulburn recently announced that as part of its opening milk price it would pay suppliers $4.75 for milk solids or about 36 cents a litre. The price is a 30 per cent increase on the same time last year.

Mr Chester has welcomed the stronger prices for local suppliers after a 30-40 per cent cut in export prices and ongoing dry seasons left many contemplating their long-term viability last year.

June 22, 2010

The Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has supported a motion at The Nationals Federal Conference, urging Australia-wide action to speed up the eradication of wild dogs and other feral animals.

The motion, which was unanimously passed by conference delegates, comes after Mr Chester last month called for a national approach to tackle rising wild dog numbers across the country during a speech in Federal Parliament.

“The economic cost to Australia of wild dogs and other feral animals should not be under estimated,” Mr Chester said.

May 28, 2010

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has urged the Federal Government to consider adopting a wild dog and fox control program similar to the one proposed by the Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition earlier this month, as a way of combating the problem nationwide.

If elected to government in November this year the Victorian Coalition will implement a four-year $4 million program under which all licensed shooters, including rural landholders, will be eligible for a $50 bounty for every wild dog and $10 bounty for every fox killed.

State Candidate for Gippsland East Tim Bull has already thrown his full support behind the Victorian Coalition’s proposal to reduce wild dog and fox numbers across the region.

May 7, 2010

The Gippsland Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) will receive a $100,000 boost to provide better assistance to local farmers wishing to initiate farm succession plans.

The funding is part of ongoing Federal Government support to provide farmers with access to professional financial counselling.

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the funding would help farmers deal with the complex issues involved in passing their farms to the next generation.

March 30, 2010

Australian farmers produce some of the best quality beef in the world and Australian consumers are protected by the safest food standards in the world… we need to do everything in our power to keep it that way.

That’s why the debate over the Rudd Labor Government’s decision to allow beef imports from countries where Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’) has been previously detected, is the subject of community concern.

It should be stressed that there has never been a case of mad cow disease detected in Australia.

March 22, 2010

The Nationals State and Federal MPs are combining forces to urge the Victorians State Government to support an extension of drought funding.

The Nationals State Member for Morwell Russell Northe and Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester are supporting community efforts to have the exceptional circumstances assessment for the region extended to include farmers around the Latrobe Valley.

The Federal Government last week announced that EC would continue for the Central and East Gippsland revised region but Latrobe Valley farmers were not included.

March 17, 2010

Exceptional Circumstances (EC) drought assistance has been extended for the Central and East Gippsland region for a further 12 months.

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said it was a positive announcement for farmers across the region still battling after a prolonged period of drought. EC drought assistance was due to expire at the end of April 2010. 

Mr Chester had previously written to farmers across Gippsland, seeking details of individual circumstances, so he could present a strong case to the Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke to have drought support extended.  Today it was announced that EC assistance would continue for the local region until April 30, 2011.

March 15, 2010

Gippsland dairy farmers have cause for optimism with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) forecasting world dairy product prices to remain relatively firm in 2010-11 after rebounding from the low prices experienced during 2009.

The forecast made at the ABARE annual conference coincided with a visit by The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester and Member for Gippsland South Peter Ryan to Murray Goulburn’s operations in Maffra.

Mr Chester said he was pleased local dairy farmers are recovering after a 30-40 per cent cut in export prices and ongoing dry seasons left many contemplating their long-term viability last year.

September 17, 2009

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has called on Federal Parliament to provide much-needed assistance for the dairy industry “at such a critical time in its history”.

“The dairy industry is as critical to the seat of Gippsland as the car industry is to a city like Geelong and yet we have seen a remarkable double standard in the government's treatment of the two industries at this time of economic crisis,” Mr Chester told Federal Parliament this week.

“It is a crisis which I stress is beyond the control of individual dairy farmers.