Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Farm Household Support Bill 2014 and the Farm Household Support (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2014. Obviously, as an inner-city MP I do not have the direct constituents who will be asking for this support, but I come from St George in rural Queensland and know well that 80 per cent of the Queensland landmass is in drought. That is about 1.5 million square kilometres, a bigger area than the Northern Territory and about the same area as Mongolia, for the sake of reference in terms we have been discussing today.

I commend the previous speaker, the member for Parkes, for his insightful words. As a Labor member of parliament I do all that I can, and I was grateful to hear his comments about how efficient our farmers are. I was also reminded, when he talked about the emus, that after World War I, when there were emu plagues in Western Australia, they apparently sent in a former machine-gun corps to clean up some of the emus. I am not advocating that, but I do understand how, when the drought is on, animals will do anything for grain or green pick.

These bills will provide financial assistance to farmers and to their partners who contribute significant labour and capital to a farm enterprise that has significant commercial purpose or character. Both sides of this chamber are in support of any extra assistance that we can provide our famers, although I am a bit disappointed to see that the coalition government failed to follow through on the significant drought policy developed by the former Labor government. I do believe that, as climate change rolls out more and more, there will be more and more challenges like this that we face. That will be the reality. The member for Parkes spoke about the practices of our grandparents on the land; the reality is that, with climate change, we will have to rethink. It is not just going to be a market distortion to support those who are least prepared with the consequences that come. I know there are significant suicide issues in rural areas as we experience this drought.

I know of my home town in your seat of Maranoa, Deputy Speaker Scott. Almost the last time I was there it was with Prime Minister Gillard looking at the results of the flood flowing over the top of the bridge at St George. Now they are crying out for rain. I am hopeful that there are some clouds on the horizon this week. I believe there is some better weather heading Queensland's way. But I fear the income support packages mentioned in this legislation have been rushed and the scheme will only provide marginal assistance for drought affected producers.

Obviously, Australia is that unique continent and country with a variable and mostly arid climate and settled by people who brought European animals used to grazing on crops and grasslands where water comes regularly. Our cattle and sheep have that tendency, but obviously our grasslands are different. They are used to being completely dry, almost going into hibernation and then blooming when the rain comes. Historically, the observed trends every scientist can tell you about towards increased warming come with increased rainfall in many tropical areas and decreased rainfall in many temperate areas. Everyone understands that these will continue. For South Australians out there it will be like redrawing Goyder's Line annually. That is the reality of the globe that we are left with. That is why we need to act on climate change wherever we can. Government assistance for Australian farmers will only increase, and a plan needs to be established that addresses drought affected areas and goes beyond a wage to help farmers in the short term, although obviously we do support this bit of the legislation.

I am also standing here as the member for Moreton, because the Brisbane Markets are in my electorate. Unfortunately, they were flooded a few years back as well. Seventy-seven hectares of land at Rocklea, a business that turns over $1 billion a year, 54 primary wholesalers and 90 additional support businesses are all located in this Rocklea business. It employs up to 4,000 people on a daily basis. There are 7,000 growers putting produce through the Brisbane Markets, so the produce from a lot of those drought affected areas will end up in my electorate of Moreton.

I went to their prize-giving event there last week, and again they raised with me the issue of the horticulture code of conduct, something that was introduced by the then agriculture minister, Minister McGauran, back in the 41st parliament, as I understand it. This is an issue for the way the industry is broken up. The horticulture code of conduct does not apply to the retail chains like Coles and Woolies. Because Coles and Woolies get their produce direct from the growers, they arrive at a price. I will introduce two bananas here—B1 and B2—to make a comparison. If B1 came from Woolies, the price would be agreed by Woolies. If B2 here came from North Queensland—I will put the props away now—supposedly the price would be agreed to before the banana was put in the case and shipped from the tablelands, Babinda or wherever, all the way down to the Brisbane Markets. Theoretically, the stakeholders at Rocklea would have to agree on the price and know the quality of the banana. That is not how it really works. Rocklea works based on trust between the grower and the people at Rocklea who actually retail it. Sixty to 65 per cent of the total product produced by fruit and vegetable growers is outside the scope of this mandatory horticulture code. Coles and Woolies have a voluntary code, but the independent retailers have this extra regulatory burden where they need to understand the fruit they are about to sell. Deputy Speaker, as you would know—because you eat so much fresh fruit—the quality of the tomato or the banana or whatever you are going to buy can vary significantly.

Much of the Rocklea market is based on trust. Now we are talking about third generations who are providing fresh fruit and vegetables to Rocklea that are then sold on to the greengrocers and the restaurants. Many restaurants go direct to the markets and get their product from the market wholesalers. Because these market wholesalers have been going for generations and dealing with the same farmer or the farmer's son or daughter or grandchildren, they know that they can rely on each other. If the farmer said, 'These bananas are top quality,' and they turned up and they were not, then that trust would break down immediately.

It is impossible under the Horticulture Code of Conduct to actually agree on a price, because the bananas will vary slightly. So despite the millions of transactions that take place around Australia—because the Brisbane market is just one of 430 market-wholesaling businesses throughout Australia that turnover in excess of $7 billion—these market wholesalers and the Horticulture Code of Conduct are competitors with Coles and Woolies. The retail chain has a voluntary code of conduct but the market wholesalers have this mandatory Horticulture Code of Conduct that is effectively just red tape. And I call on the Minister for Small Business, Minister Billson, to look at the businesses that are affected. They are mainly small- to medium-size businesses—not Coles and Woolies, but the small- to medium-size businesses—that have to put up with this red tape.

The horticulture code prescribes methods of operations which are completely inconsistent with the way the growers and wholesalers do business. Can you imagine a wholesaler getting on the phone to the farmer down in the Lockyer Valley at the time the truck is packed, and agreeing on a price at 2 o'clock in the morning? Do you think that the farmers down in Gatton, or wherever they are, want to be phoned at 2 o'clock in the morning when the truck is being packed to agree on a price? That is not how it works; that is not the reality.

There are millions of transactions going on every year. But I am happy to say that despite those millions of transactions, in the last three financial years the horticulture mediation advisory reports indicate that there have been only 28 inquiries about infringements and only six formal requests for mediation under the code. In fact, in the last financial year there were no mediations. So, we have all of this red tape—or we can call it green tape because it is around fruit and veggies! It affects small businesses, the farmers and the retailers—it does not affect Coles and Woolies—the people who are trying to have a go under this code, and the reality is that no-one has anything to complain about.

It is an impost that I would ask Minister Joyce to reconsider. It is something that I will take up on behalf of the Brisbane markets, because they are in my electorate, to see if we can get rid of this red tape. I notice there is going to be an attempt to get rid of some unnecessary regulations tomorrow, and this is a classic example. A code that does nothing except put a tax on everyone's banana—every banana that is bought outside of Coles and Woolies. It is a red tape that adds to the price of every potato bought at a small retailer or any fruit market.

The growers and wholesalers do business in a trusted way. They have been doing that for years. Anyone who goes to the Rocklea markets would know that people have these long, continuing relationships where they know how to trust each other. It is grandchildren dealing with the grandchildren of farmers, growers and producers. The ACCC report indicates that in the last three years they have only taken action against two businesses for breaches of the code—and I know one of them. One was a business that was a grower acting as a wholesaler.

This was put in place by Minister McGauran to protect—misguidedly, I think—some people who thought there was an issue. The reality is, there is unnecessary red tape and unnecessary cost. All households are paying for this red tape in the fruit and veggie area. Anyone who understands the sale of fruit and veggies knows that the code is basically irrelevant. They just ignore it, because the relationship is based on trust. There is a cost to taxpayers, because they are administering the code. I would like the government to take that up and get rid of it.

When we are talking about the Farm Household Support Bill 2014 it does come back to that underlying concern that every sensible science-believing person understands, and that is that we need to act on climate change. It is not enough to stand up every question time and say, 'The carbon tax, the carbon tax, the carbon tax.' The reality is that we believe in using a market mechanism to achieve the best possible outcome for a horrible set of circumstances. That is, if we do not act to combat human-induced climate change our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren will not have a planet—will not have a planet where they are able to have a decent lifestyle. There is that other fact, of course, which is that it will cost more to act later. We almost have to be able to look our children in the eye and say, 'That's your problem, not ours.' I am not prepared to do that. The Labor Party has always been a party devoted to doing the best thing by the collective—the best thing by the nation. It is not just a group—

Mr Brough interjecting—

I can hear comments coming from the arc of mediocrity!

See this speech in context