MP seeks vital financial help

AS Mackay canegrowers debate whether to end what has become a miserable harvest season or hold out in the hope of better weather, Member for Dawson George Christensen has called for urgent financial assistance for them.

Mr Christensen has asked the Federal Government to assist Mackay, Proserpine and Sarina growers who are affected by the bad weather, estimating the value of cane left in the region’s fields at $53 million.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday night, he requested an immediate extension of ‘exceptional circumstances’ provisions to growers negatively impacted by the rain. Mr Christensen said he had also written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, asking them to visit one of the affected sugar-growing regions.

Last week, the Daily Mercury reported that bad weather had contributed to tens of millions of dollars in lost income for the Mackay region’s sugar industry.

Mackay Canegrowers chairman Paul Schembri said this year’s crushing had been even worse than 1998, one of the worst on record, which ended with almost a million tonnes of cane left in the field.

While world sugar prices are at a high, wet weather and boggy paddocks are preventing cane farmers from harvesting the remainder of their crops.

Mr Schembri yesterday said industry representatives were assessing the situation and weather forecasts day by day, but the majority of farmers believed this year’s crush was over. Others were optimistic they could retrieve some of the remaining sugar cane if the region had nine or 10 clear sunny days.

While Proserpine Mill and Racecourse Mill had decided to close for the season, the possible closures of Farleigh, Marian and Plane Creek mills were still being discussed, he said.

Mr Christensen told Parliament some 645,372 tonnes of cane were still unharvested in Mackay, 261,300 tonnes were left in Sarina and 447,000 tonnes were left in Proserpine and the Whitsundays.

“This sad situation comes on top of severe damage to the crop earlier in the year when Cyclone Ului crossed the coast near the Whitsundays.”

Mr Christensen said Queensland Sugar reported it would be lucky to meet 2.4 million tonnes of its expected 3.2 million tonnes in exports this year.

“This is a reduction of 25 per cent and, according to QSL, it (will) mean more than $350 million of export revenues that would have normally flowed on to millers, growers and regional Queensland communities is down the drain. Many growers have forward sold a portion of their 2010 crop and now face having to pay that back in some manner.”

source: dailymercury