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

I rise to speak on this very good motion put forward by the member for Murray, Dr Stone. I do so with a heavy heart and serious concern because food processing is such a vital part of rural Australia. It is, if you like, a litmus test on the economies of what happens in rural Australia. In fact, for many towns, the food processor is, or was, the major employer, the backbone in the development of a town and integral to providing the critical mass for the town for essential services, be it schools, hospitals or whatever it is that we need. For these businesses to see a future in Australia, they also need to know that the business environment will change and that the cost will change from today, and that the cost of doing business in Australia will stop increasing at such alarming rates and in fact decrease.

Unfortunately, we have a government whose policies have deliberately added costs and red tape, and destroyed business confidence. As a result, Rosella, Windsor Farm, SPC, McCain and Golden Circle have all closed some or all of their Australian food-processing operations in the past three years. Simplot has now announced that two of its plants are under threat of imminent closure, particularly the one in Bathurst and possibly even the one in Devonport. The high dollar is certainly a significant factor, but Labor's policies have without doubt compounded the effect, with record borrowing and record debt through the five biggest budget deficits in history putting upward pressure on the dollar and on interest rates.

Supporting manufacturing through innovative policies should be a no-brainer for Labor to support the workers—their strongest supporter base in the past. But the demise of food processing has really highlighted how Labor have deserted its working class base. Around 140,000 Australians have lost their jobs in the manufacturing sector over the last five years. In fact, one manufacturing job is lost every 19 minutes in this country. That is Labor's legacy. Introducing 21,000 new regulations and over 30 new or higher taxes take a toll on business; they also foster a feeling of defeatism within producers, suppliers and manufacturers—no matter what you do to get ahead, the government will still whack you. I congratulate SPC, as they have been proactive with government at all levels, and they have even come to the opposition to try to find solutions to keep their plants operating. SPC have applied to the government for emergency safeguard provisions and antidumping actions to give them some breathing space to retool their business. The coalition has supported the investigations to see if there is a case for emergency safeguard and antidumping actions.

Other companies, like Simplot, are watching on with a keen eye to see if the government is going to be proactive in its support for these industries as a first step to reinvigorate business confidence. Simplot has nominated two plants under imminent threat of closure, one of which is in my electorate. For agriculture, the loss of processing capability or capacity flows through directly to the farm sector. Obviously it has, or has the potential to have, a huge effect on profitability and marketing options.

Only the coalition has the necessary solutions. We will abolish the carbon tax; eliminate at least $1 billion of costly red tape annually; reduce government waste; and provide businesses with the certainty they need to prosper, employ more people and bring back the strong economic management and business confidence that Australia so desperately needs. We will also reduce the upward pressure on interest rates by getting the federal government's budget back in shape. A root and branch review of the Competition and Consumer Act, and beefed-up antidumping measures, will help ensure arrangements for the long-term viability of the food-processing industry. Once again, I congratulate Dr Stone, the member for Murray, for this motion and ask the House to support it.

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