FARMERS in North-Western Victoria are being urged to use the small business tax incentives to buy irrigation infrastructure, the Mallee (Vic) MP Andrew Broad said.
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Irrigated farming dropped in the region, under the previous Federal Government, he said.
"This Government is investing in farming and in rural communities and in doing so, encouraging our farmers to invest in their future as well," Mr Broad said
"We have committed $103 million to build a modern irrigation system and we're now providing farmers with the incentive to get their land back into production by offering instant tax write-offs for irrigation infrastructure purchases."
Abandoned blocks around the irrigated communities in the Mallee electorate were a legacy of a bad Labor policy, encouraging drought affected farmers to sell their water allocation, on the condition that they took their land out of production for a minimum of five years.
Resurrecting the land and irrigation infrastructure to become productive again, required a great deal of time and money.
The new tax incentives, coupled with the new irrigation system, would go some way to helping growers redevelop sustainable farming businesses.
"Labor delivered one of the most damaging policies to our irrigation community; reducing the productivity and value of farming land," Mr Broad said.
"We are all about having that land back in production, supporting the next generation of farmers and undoing the damage done by the previous Government's 'buy back and shut down' policy.
"With the new Free Trade Agreements in place, there are more opportunities for farmers than ever before and they deserve to be in the position to take advantage of them.
"We stand behind the producers, we believe in what they can do and we want to support regional Australia so it can grow," he said.
