The week’s top stories (week ending 12/11/19)
Every week, AUSVEG rounds up the top stories on issues affecting the Australian vegetable industry. Here are this week’s most important news items:
- Pressure mounting on feds over backpacker tax (Ashley Walmsley, Good Fruit and Vegetables)
- Citrus Australia calls for government to remove “toxic tax” on agriculture (Fresh Plaza)
- Drought-affected farmers and businesses to be offered super-cheap loans to stay afloat (Andrew Probyn and Kath Sullivan, ABC News)
- Drought stimulus package includes $100 million for SA to turn on desalination plant, leaving water for farmers upstream (Kath Sullivan and Lucy Barbour, ABC News)
- Canberra gives $100m to grow drought fodder, but will it work? (Mike Foley, The Land)
- Water market investors described as ‘parasites’ in first ACCC inquiry hearing in Mildura (Christopher Testa, ABC Mildura)
- Mountain Blue orchards wins intellectual property case over rip-off blueberry variety (Claudia Jambor, ABC Coffs Coast)
- Greater Sydney LLS puts research into practice with VegNET NSW (Good Fruit and Vegetables)
- Vertical farming, micro-algae and bio-reactors — the new frontier of sustainable food (Antony Funnell, ABC Future Tense)
- Catastrophic bushfire warnings in place for Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter, Illawarra and Shoalhaven (Bellinda Kontominas, ABC News)
- Landmark, Ruralco rural brands unite to form Nutrien Ag Solutions (Carmen Brown, ABC NT Country Hour)
- Customer confusion prompts calls for health star rating expansion (Stephanie Dalzell, ABC News)