Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

The points I am responding to are the points raised by the Leader of the Opposition giving reason why there should be a suspension. That is what I am responding to. At every point in this process the government has acted responsibly. From the start of this process, when allegations were raised without substantiation and without evidence, they were responded to.

The Leader of the Opposition said that, as the minister responsible, I have come in here unprepared. I am the minister responsible for trade and for providing Australian exporters with market access across the world. That is what I do, and that is what I have been doing for Australian wheat exporters—ensuring there is market access availability across the world. That is the best thing we can do to support Australian wheat growers.

I remind the Leader of the Opposition that, as a representative of our party coming from country Australia, I spend a lot of time with Australian wheat growers, talking to them about the issues that they are confronted with on a daily basis. One issue that concerns them greatly at the moment is that the political campaign being run by the Australian Labor Party is damaging their reputation across the world. They have stated that publicly—that it has been damaged across the world.

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