An agricultural leader has called on one state government to support multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) policies to help the sector develop.
With the Western Australia state election less than a month away, WAFarmers president Tony York has called on the Government to support MPCI to help farmers have confidence in their businesses.
“For policies to become cheaper, the market needs to be stimulated so the underwriters can spread the risk across a larger number of policies,” York said.
“By fostering the uptake of the policies across the agricultural region, it reduces the reliance on concessional loans and leaves public funds available for better use, creating another revenue stream for the state by having it collect duties from a larger number of MPCI policies once the three-year concession period has concluded.”
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York called for rebates for a three-year period and more long-term support from the State government to help develop the insurance market.
Currently, there are only a handful of active MPCI policies in Western Australia, which York noted net the Government a limited amount of tax.
With further Government support, he believes farmers would be able to steel themselves against risk, which has a knock on effect for entire communities throughout the state.
Grain exports from the state generate more than $4 billion a year for the economy and York believes that with agricultural businesses remaining vulnerable, it is time for the Government to boost the take-up of MPCI.
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