John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

The Rudd government is very fond of reviews, white papers, green papers and committees, but the lack of a reform agenda can perhaps best be highlighted by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, who is fast gaining a reputation as a ‘gunna’. He is always gunna do something but never quite does so. The minister played an integral part in the Labor circus that masquerades as a government in our state of New South Wales. I am not surprised that, as a made man in the New South Wales right wing in the Labor Party, he has been distracted from implementing any sort of reform agenda in agriculture, fisheries and forestry—certainly no positive one. Prior to entering federal parliament, the minister was a member of the New South Wales Labor government, which is about as dodgy as a bucket of prawns after a week in the sun. Who would not wonder about the judgment of a person who owes their position to people like Joe Tripodi, Reba Meagher and Eddie Obeid.

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