Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

And I will get to the question. It is very important to substantiate some of the issues and explain how the budget affects my electorate. I am certainly happy for the interjection. It allows me now to continue before I ask my question.

As everyone is well aware, there is a growing global food crisis, and the Regional Food Producers Innovation and Productivity Program is part of the plan to address and meet the challenges of the future. I think this will allow the government to work in partnership with industry to help provide new technologies, processing or production methods and boost export market development. Of course this is very important for my electorate of Forde. The member over here might not understand that it is very important for combination rural-urban seats like mine, so it is on indulgence that I actually talk a bit about this.

This assistance will include dollar-for-dollar grants to regionally based food producers and processors and $10 million for innovation and productivity in the seafood industry. This is also a vital gain for south-east Queensland. This will help places like the Gold Coast prawn farm which the minister, as I said, visited last week. It will help them expand their businesses and become competitive in the global market.

Rural and regional businesses were a key topic of discussion, as we know, at the Australia 2020 Summit in Canberra but also in the electorate of Forde, where I held a number of those summits. This is all about agribusiness. It will give a flow-through effect to regional and rural economies. This will provide attractive career options for young people in rural and regional communities. Another 2008-09 federal budget initiative is the three-year $5 million Promoting Australian Produce program to help rural and seafood industries promote their produce. I now get to the question.

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