Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Flynn for his question and I note his strong interest in agricultural issues. I also acknowledge the level of enthusiasm for the subject that has come from across the chamber. I have to say that I thought there might have been a question from the other side about this issue. Clearly, there is a lot of passion coming through the papers on this. However, what we need to understand with the legislation that is to be introduced in the budget sittings is: what happens if nothing changes? What happens to certainty for wheat growers if that legislation does not go through?

If nothing changes, on 30 June this year the veto power of the minister will disappear. That is what will happen under the legislation that was left to this government. However, the second thing that will happen is that growers will be exposed with no protections—no protections, which otherwise will be provided by the legislation being brought through by the government. First, there would be no probity test to make sure that a buyer of wheat is in a financial position to carry out the purchase, and, secondly, there would be no guaranteed access arrangements—no arrangements to make sure that we do not end up with monopoly situations being abused at the ports.

How can growers be given certainty? How can we make sure that we send a message to growers that goes beyond the old National Party policy that growers will not be allowed to choose who they sell their wheat to? That is the guts of the Nationals policy on this. They will not allow growers to choose who they sell to. Certainty can be given very simply. It is for the Leader of the Nationals—not in his role as the Leader of the Nationals but in his role as a coalition frontbencher—to declare a coalition position in support of reform of the current wheat arrangements.

There is a reason why he cannot do that. Quite simply, the relationship between the Liberal Party and the National Party has broken down entirely. On 10 March, the Manager of Opposition Business in this House made a comment to the media, referring to the Nationals:

… they now have lost their unique identification with the country.

That is his position. Interestingly, that is the position also of the member for North Sydney—and in a moment I will get to the affinity that North Sydney has with the Nationals. However, before I do that, it was also put well today by another Liberal MP from out Goulburn way, the member for Hume. He commented:

There’s two options—the Liberal Party can sit back and wait for them to die and contest their seats, or the remnant—

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