General News
24 March, 2026
Farmers appeal for fair rate increase
FARMERS have laid bare the skyrocketing costs they are coping with to keep their businesses operating in an appeal to Tablelands Regional Council to treat them with fairness as it frames the 2026-27 budget.
FNQ Growers president Joe Moro, and farmers Lawrence Masasso and Martin Inderbitzin, gave a deputation to the council last week in a bid to keep any rise in rates this year to a minimum as they struggle to cope with increased costs for fuel and fertiliser.
Mr Inderbitzen said as businesses, farmers had to remain competitive with producers in other areas of the State, claiming growers in TRC were paying much more rates per hectare than in other shires.
He showed the council graphs that demonstrated rates had tripled for farming and grazing properties in the past 10 years, with the farmers claiming that was three times higher than what had been levied on residential properties over the same period.
“We’re rated pretty heavily already – we are at around $280 per hectare – other areas that are similar are $70 a hectare so we’re already paying four times the rates of other farms that are similar to us,” Mr Masasso told councillors.
“Martin has clearly shown how rural land has always been subjected to higher rates than the rest of the community. In the past, the council maintained that that was due to land valuation increases and not targeting of the rural community.
“2026 puts us in a situation now where it’s now time to see if previous council assertions about land valuations leading to our higher rates burdens are grounded in facts.
“The latest land valuations are showing little to no increase in rural land valuations – if previous assertions by council are to be believed, then my rural rate base should not be subjected to substantial rate increases.
“There’s a reason that land prices haven’t seen any increases since the last valuations. The rural community is doing it really tough – farms are only selling now at reduced prices, if they sell at all.
“There are farms that have been listed for probably over five years – they’re not selling.”
Mr Masasso demonstrated why things were so tough for growers, like those producing avocados.
“Avocados right now are selling in the wholesale market for $20 (a tray) which is why you will get them for $1 apiece in Woolworths right now,” he said.
“In 1995, we were getting $22 – that’s 30 years ago. The latest avocado benchmark report puts the break-even price at around at $28 – that’s an $8 loss on every tray.
“There’s similar issues in the dairy industry, the sugar industry, and for the remnants of the peanut industry and maize – all farm costs are skyrocketing.
“Diesel delivered on farm for me yesterday cost north of $2.80 a litre, fertiliser is expensive and hard to source and that was even before what’s happened over in Iran.
“Every pallet of fruit we send to market at the moment has an $80 fuel levy on top of normal freight and, next week, that will be even higher.”
He acknowledged the council had a “hard job” to do in framing the next budget, but urged them to “do the right thing and treat your farmers fairly as you have promised in the past”.
“Every farmer is having to tighten their budget at the moment to extremes that I could never have imagined – we are in such a tough place right now,” he said.
Mr Moro reminded the council of how important the agricultural industry was to the region, describing the industry as the “lifeblood of TRC and the whole Far North Qld region outside Cairns”.
“From a business point of view for agriculture, particularly fruit and veg, it’s a very competitive industry and there are plenty of forces at play and for farmers to remain viable into the future and continue to be good economic contributors and provide the social fabric they provide to a region, predictability is very important,” he said.
“We expect rates to rise, but we would ask that when they do rise, that they be predictable and fair.”
Last year, the same farmers appealed to TRC for fairness and equity in rating, and urged Minister Ann Leahy to order an urgent review of the council’s rating framework; consider the implementation of a rebate scheme or targeted support mechanisms for agricultural producers affected by disproportionate rate increases; and provide guidance or regulatory oversight to ensure local government rate structures were transparent, economically justifiable, and aligned with the unique challenges facing regional industries.
