The Australian Government, quietly and away from active parliamentary scrutiny, has just stabbed Australian farmers in the back. Rushy Lagoon, the prized jewel of northern Tasmania, is now in foreign hands with the assistance of a deal underwritten by you, the Australian taxpayer.

The 21,744ha Rushy Lagoon is Tasmania’s largest farm and is prime grazing land – it has been for generations. This pristine farm has long been a cornerstone of regional Australia’s agricultural strength.

For decades it has produced beef, cattle, sheep and dairy, sustaining local jobs and contributing proudly to national food production.

Now, with the Federal Labor Government’s approval, this productive asset is being handed to a UK-managed forestry investor in a joint venture backed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s $69m of taxpayer funds.

This is not investment in Australia’s future. It doesn’t put Australia first.

It is an act of betrayal that sidelines Aussie farmers in favour of the Labor Green net zero obsession.

The new owners plan to convert thousands of hectares from grazing and cropping into vast pine plantations, all under the guise of “environmental” benefits and carbon credits.

Productive farmland that has fed families and powered regional economies will instead chase speculative green schemes that deliver questionable returns while hollowing out real agriculture.

Taxpayers are on the hook for nearly half the deal through the CEFC, yet the promised 190 “green jobs” over 30 years amount to little more than six full-time positions annually.

Far from being value for money, this is an open-shut case of government waste dressed up as climate action.

Questions remain as to whether the UK buyers could have got the deal across the line without the taxpayer-funded help from this government. Worse, the shift to pine raises serious questions about long-term land management.

Pine can create ideal conditions for invasive weeds and pests that neighbouring farms will then have to pick up the fight against.

This burdens more locals, already struggling under high taxes, crushing regulation and the endless compliance burden of net zero policies, with further hidden costs. This sale breaks faith with the very people who keep our regions alive.

I can tell you farmers across Tasmania and the nation are furious, and rightly so.

Surveys showed overwhelming opposition – to the tune of 99 per cent of local respondents – yet Canberra pressed ahead during parliamentary recess, prioritising foreign forestry interests and carbon accounting over national food security.

Those of us opposed to the so-called “green” nightmare have long warned that net zero zealotry, reckless spending and regulatory overreach would come at the expense of our farmers.

Rushy Lagoon is the latest example that proves this point. Farmers and all regional Australians deserve better than seeing their most valuable agricultural land sacrificed on the altar of climate virtue-signalling.

There is still time to oppose this. The joint venture partners have indicated they will engage with locals to talk about their views for Rushy Lagoon.

It’s time to make our voices heard and back our farmers in a way that this government has failed to do.

We must resolutely reject taxpayer-funded subsidies that distort the market, scrutinise the intentions for this valuable farmland, and put food and economic security ahead of ideological targets. The future of rural Tasmania, and Australia, depends on it.