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

Only because you had to. Because the industry asked us to we have agreed to sign off on that and we are not going to use the opportunity given to us to stand aside. However, there are five other industries which still need the government to work with them to sort it out. This is especially important as the government is also about to hit these meat processors with the world's biggest carbon tax. I could talk about that for a long time, but I will not. Do not underrate the effect that has on the meat industry and the processing industry, whether it be horticulture, meat or whatever. One of Australia's better abattoirs looks to be going to get costs—because they will trigger the carbon tax, and there will be their power bills—of $3 million a year extra. At a time when we are crying out for export industries to help us, that is not a great way to help them.

The government has been forced to act on the meat export industry and I now call on the minister to provide a similar package for each of the other export industries and to carry out the legitimate costs of government study it promised under the original agreement. It is ridiculous that the government has had over two years to implement efficiency measures, but two years on they are no closer to any reforms. They have had to concede that with the meat industry they are three years behind because the current deal does assist in some measure those in the meat industry to get the efficiencies that were originally promised of $30 million a year. In three years time they will far exceed that. I ask the current minister to fulfil the deal put forward by Tony Burke, who was then the minister, in 2008-09 because Australia's export industries, agriculture and fisheries, need them.

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