Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure to follow, in particular, the member for Leichhardt and the member for Brand, who collectively and individually have a great wealth of knowledge on the issues facing northern Australia and, of course, the opportunities that are there for northern Australia. One of the unique things about Australia is that about 90 per cent of us live in urban areas, 60 per cent live in capital cities and an enormous 80 per cent of us live within 50 kilometres of the coast. We are the most urban concentrated country in the world. There is no doubt about that. With a land mass of 7.6 million square kilometres, people who live in Europe and elsewhere might think that strange, but they might also understand is that 20 per cent of our land mass is desert and much more has very low rainfall.

What is northern Australia? It is the north, of course—not just any one state but the north of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and, of course, Queensland. It is not surprising, therefore, to see such a mix of members speaking to this motion. I want to congratulate the government for forming a select committee on northern Australia. That is a good thing. I get a bit concerned about committees. We seem to be having plenty of them at the moment and too many white papers and too much policy inertia. But this is a big issue, and you cannot criticise the government for taking that initiative and building on the very, very good work of the 2009 Northern Australia Taskforce, which was initiated by the former government.

Policy in northern Australia is not something to be rushed into. The issues are very complex. People would not see it at first blush, but the environment is very fragile—the balance is very fragile—and we must take that into account. The north is where much of our wealth lies and will lie in the future. Of course, much of our mineral deposits are extracted out of northern parts of Australia, including coal, and much of our food at the moment is exported out of the north, including our beef industry and the live export industry. This is a critical industry, worth about half a billion annually to the north, which utilises lands that are not much good for anything but running cattle—therefore, adding diversity to the economies of the north.

The previous speaker, the member for Capricornia, was talking about the opportunities in food in Asia. I think it is at least some times overestimated what role the north can play in our best endeavours to fully capitalise on what I call the Asia-led dining boom. But it will play a role. With innovation, expertise and the right planning from government, it will play a role—and it will need to play a role. If we are to significantly lift our output as well as seek high-yield products for the Asian market, we will need all the arable land that we can secure.

Anyone who has ever flown across the continent heading for Asia—and that is, I am sure, everyone in this chamber—and watched the red desert all the way until you come to the Ord scheme will know what can be done with the right sorts of resources and the right planning. The question becomes of course how sustainable these things can be done, but I have no doubt that the north will play a role in the Asia food boom.

In my experience, the council of Northern Australia is already doing good work there. When I was agriculture minister, I had the opportunity to engage with the regional ministers who form part of that committee. Many of them fortuitously are also agriculture ministers, which I think is a wonderful synergy for those who sit on that committee and for those who are trying to make the most of the opportunities posed in the north.

These things are not as simple as building dams, as important as dams can be and no doubt will be in the future, but I discourage politicians from telling people in the south of the country that we can take on the world if only we build more dams. It is not that simple by any stretch of the imagination. The issues are far more challenging and more complex than that. That is why I welcome this, even if we currently have some policy inertia with the committee, the work of the task force and whatever the government might do with its coming program. (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.

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