GCA Against Canadian Farm Subsidies

SYDNEY - Mar 3/05 - SNS -- Australian farmers are sympathetic with the income woes of Canadian farmers, but they remind their northern hemisphere counterparts both rely on international markets for incomes and subsidies never provide a long term solution to marketing problems.

Grains Council of Australia (GCA) President Keith Perrett, was commenting on a demonstration in Ontario this week, when several thousand farmers demanded an infusion of $2.3 billion from the Government to boost incomes which have fallen to around $6,700 a year between 2002 and 2004.

"Canadian grain producers, like their colleagues in Australia, trade into an international market which is corrupted by protectionist policies in the US and EU", Perrett said.

"Like Australian grain producers, the Canadians are facing lower prices and higher costs, but the similarities between our responses to poorer terms of trade are quite different. While Canadian producers are looking to their taxpayers for subsidies, Australian grain producers are about to embark on an exciting new course, through the 'Single Vision' Grains Industry Strategy'", he said.

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