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

In the lead-up to that news being received, we had some extraordinary stories of gloom and doom from the National Party as to how it would be received. We had the member for Calare, the shadow minister, describing it as economically irresponsible legislation, we had Senator Boswell saying that the new arrangements would throw an industry to the wolves of the international market, and we had the Leader of the National Party disagreeing with it on the basis that he wanted premiums for growing quality Australian wheat to go to Australian farmers and the Australian economy. But interestingly, since the reforms came in and growers started to get their returns and have the choice of who they would sell their wheat to, the Nationals went strangely quiet—

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