Barry Wakelin (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I thank the member for New England for the opportunity to discuss the future of the Australian wheat industry today. It is a very important topic at a time when there are significant challenges ahead. It is self-apparent, I am sure, but nevertheless it is worthwhile in this place to air it and I am appreciative of the member for New England’s contribution. I must say that within his contribution I found very little to differ with. In a very fair way he mentioned the issues. I was particularly attracted to the acknowledgement of Western Australians—and, may I add, perhaps a little selfishly, South Australians—in terms of the export component of the wheat industry, which, of course, the single desk particularly relates to.

Many of us will recall the debate many years ago about the deregulation of the domestic wheat industry. That is not what we are here to do today, as far as I am concerned. I, like the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the member for Gippsland, believe that it is possible to separate out the issues of the single desk and the corporate culture that AWBI found itself caught up in. I do not intend to discuss Cole in any great length other than to say that I am grateful for the skill, which I think is acknowledged right across the House and across party lines, that Commissioner Cole showed in the way that he analysed this situation. I end up with a great respect for someone who has so fairly and in a balanced way brought down quite a significant report but in such a forensic way that I am sure most Australians will be able to understand what he is talking about.

The fact of life for the wheat industry—and to go to the member for Corio’s contribution—is that the devastation of the income of wheat growers has much more to do with that which falls from the sky, and that will always be the case, than the behaviour of marketing bodies, governments or any other body within this country. As a wheat grower, I am proudly part of the wheat industry. Those who have come before me in the wheat industry at times of other great challenge in the industry have said, ‘Yes, there is a problem.’ Some people may remember the issue of wheat quotas. But, as my father said to me then, ‘Your greatest challenge, quite frankly, will be to grow the stuff.’ So let us not lose sight of what our farmers are about. They are amongst the best, if not the best, producers of grain in the most skilful way in the world.

The ebb and flow of organisations such as AWBI are, in my view, secondary issues for this great industry. Let us remind ourselves about this industry. The member for Mitchell reminded me that James Ruse produced the first wheat in Australia. I will take a guess, but it was probably in 1789 or 1790. Some people may remember a man by the name of William James Farrer. When he developed the wheat variety ‘Federation’, which I understand was a rust resistant variety, it contributed very significantly to the wheat industry over 100 years ago—hence its name, of course.

But there has been ebb and flow in this industry over at least 200 years, and this is just another part of that. We know that it is a significant export earner. We know that the mining industry has moved on and is a very strong contributor to our export income, whereas at one time primary production—that is, the wheat industry, the wool industry and the meat industry—was significantly greater than the mineral industry. So primary production, particularly the wheat industry, as significant as it is, is a smaller part of the overall Australian economy.

It seems to me the great challenge for all of us, particularly in this place, is to strip away the politics as best we can, as I believe the member for New England and the minister did today, and focus on our future at a time of one of our toughest droughts, at a time when we need, quite frankly, the best corporate approach—the best strategy—to give our wheat growers the best opportunity to maximise their return. Of course, everyone knows that, for anyone who has some wheat, in whatever quantities—and many wheat growers do not have very much wheat at all, and certainly my farm is in that category—wheat is at perhaps five to eight per cent of its average production or slightly above what we would consider a reasonable production level. Imagine your income when, after investing some hundreds of thousands dollars—certainly $50,000 to $100,000 at least, depending on your scale—and expecting to get some hundreds of thousands of dollars in return, you end up with 10 per cent, or 15 per cent if you are lucky, of what you might regard as an average income or of the average gross income for that particular year. So these are factors that farmers are used to dealing with. It is not particularly helpful for us to overly politicise the problems of the AWB in this place.

To go to the challenges over the next few days, we know that the government—the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister—will bring forward in the next few days a range of options which I believe will show us the way to the future. I have my own private views about that, but it is not for me to canvass them at this time, other than in the general context of agreeing with the member for New England that we cannot stay the same. The status quo is no longer an option. It does not necessarily mean that the single desk has to be unduly changed. At the very least, a significant interim period needs to be part of that discussion.

I look at all the numbers—the alleged $1 billion lawsuit; the tax liability—and all of the technical, legal and economic debate. The House might forgive me for being slightly wary of—I will not say cynical about—all that technical stuff, because I come back to this key issue: for the wheat growers of Australia, it is about growing the stuff. It is about getting a profitable return. It is not about the politics. It is not about alleged activities in the Middle East. It is not about any of that—remembering, of course, that the market in Iraq represents an average of about 10 per cent of the total export market at any given time. So I believe we can look to the future with confidence. We have issues of leadership and reasonable options that we need to consider as quickly as possible. I believe that those options are before us. There is no doubt about the ability to produce the stuff when it rains, and there is no doubt that the marketing capacity of this country is there. Within the single desk, we will find a way to maintain the standard, keep the corporate culture strong and make sure that this wheat industry continues to thrive after the drought.

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