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

With regard to the matter of public importance submitted by the member for New England, one thing that is very clear is that Australian producers have far more to fear from government policy than they have from climate change or anything else. I can attest that in Brazil and America people are far more fearful of what governments might hand down than they are about what nature might hand down. Having said that, food security is not only about farmers being able to do what they do best and grow the food or the fibre; it is also about food manufacturing and processing, and the food manufacturing sector is the last major one left in Australia. It employs 315,000 people, mainly in regional Australia. It is vital to our nation’s food security, and this side of the House is extraordinarily concerned about its viability. For example, we are extremely concerned that there is only one frozen vegetable-processing plant left in the country after McCain closed its Tasmanian plant. That is obviously a major concern and it needs to be addressed.

One thing that simply cannot happen, if we are serious about the long-term sustainability of the land and of the industry, is the cutting of funds for research and development. As with any industry, staying up to date with the latest in technological and industrial improvements allows our producers to keep ahead of the pack when it comes to the global agricultural market. In many of our agricultural industries, Australians are clearly the best and in the rest, if they are not the best, they are certainly up there with it.

This MPI is about an issue that is obviously very close to me. Two years ago, for the first time in the history of mankind, there were more people living in cities than in rural areas. Never before have so many relied on so few for their food. To put it simply, if you do not eat, you die. Let us be clear: fewer people are producing food and, more simply, cannot produce food. As the urban trend continues, this gap is going to widen. It has brought many new challenges, none greater than the widening gap between urban populations and food producers. It is increasingly evident that at times unrealistic environmental green tape is being placed on food producers, and the lack of empathy of some city based politicians with people in the country is not helping this.

It was when I was shadow water minister that I saw the black hole opening up in our nation’s food security, and I saw the absolute contempt with which the government treated the Murray-Darling Basin irrigators and the two million people who live in the basin. Probably half of them are dependent on water in one guise or another. Unfortunately, the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water is still treating them with contempt, and this was graphically illustrated when she was interviewed by the ABC on the Four Corners program after the government bought the food-producing powerhouse Toorale Station and converted it into a national park.

The two million people who rely on water in the Murray-Darling Basin need to get through to the Labor government that they have to stop ignoring the economic and social costs associated with the reforms. I would point out that food security is not only about our ability to feed Australians now; it is also about the fact that we are looked upon as the people who set the benchmark for good food production around the world, not only in quantity but in quality, and we do have a responsibility. If we produce only enough for ourselves and we do not provide enough good food for the rest of the world, a lot of people are going to die. We have a responsibility. Look at Sydney—they reckon there is enough food for seven to 10 days within Sydney and after that they would be in trouble. Food security is not only about the long term; it is also about the here and now. The next 50 years will see greater pressure placed on our farmers to deal with that. I finish by saying that farmers here and around the world are more frightened of government—(Time expired)

See this speech in context