Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You can laugh over there, Member for Corangamite; it was actually a member of the Liberal Party who said it. What value do the Liberal Party place on the need of Tasmanian farmers to have access to the minister for agriculture? Very little, it seems—politics before people. Will the minister come and speak with Tasmanian farmers, or is he banned from visiting the state as long as there are Liberal state and federal governments?

If that is so, then clearly there is a problem in the coalition's ranks. It may be Nationals by name, but clearly not by nature. On the flipside, the member for Hunter, together with the Country Caucus of the Labor Party, has visited my electorate, meeting with farmers and processors in recent months and spending the time speaking with them about their concerns.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing accounts for almost 10 per cent of Tasmania's GDP, which compares to around 2 per cent nationally. That is how important agriculture is to my state; it is the state's largest sector. Dairy, and the state's share of national milk production, has also grown steadily over the past 10 years. Agriculture, forestry and fishing represents 7.8 per cent of the workforce in the North-West of Tasmania, compared with 5.5 per cent for the state. And yet, the Minister for Agriculture is nowhere to be seen. I do not believe that he actually knows where Tasmania is; I never hear him mention it. Unsurprisingly, his Tasmanian Liberal Senate coalition colleagues have not joined with me to get him to Tasmania, and perhaps my earlier remarks explain why.

Tasmania unfortunately is not alone in lengthy waits to access the Farm Household Allowance scheme. Whether in South Australia, Victoria or other parts of the country, there are numerous stories of farmers forced to wait for more than three months for an allowance intended to help them and their families who are experiencing financial hardship. And in Tasmania there were the floods in June, as well as the severe and debilitating hits of fluctuating commodity prices and months of inaction from the federal government. Farming families were desperate and forced to rely on food vouchers or the help of others in the community to make ends meet. There were calls left, right and centre from Latrobe through to Circular Head for some help. This comes from a very proud bunch of people, who do avoid asking for help.

Even Victorian National Senator Bridget McKenzie has admitted that there are issues with the allowance application process and that it was not fit for purpose. The Senator wrote in an article in Farm Online:

I think there's some streamlining that can be done to ensure we have a system that is fit for purpose.

Senator McKenzie has also commented that the Farm Household Allowance application process is 'incredibly frustrating', citing examples during the roundtable discussions of farmers dealing with complex ICT systems.

I have had dairy farmers tell me of needing to obtain advice from accountants at a cost of hundreds of dollars, just to satisfy the application process. Here is another example of where this system fails: in my electorate a local agribusiness consultant was forced to withdraw his services to local farming families due to nonpayment by Centrelink. Mr Perez had been working for people in my electorate to process their claims for the Farm Household Allowance. He acted on behalf of Centrelink for two years, and for the period from August until towards the end of last year Centrelink had not paid him for his work. He had been authorised by Centrelink to be the case officer involved, but the processing delays left him with no choice other than to stop supporting local farmers. In fact, the government seems unable to cope with the simplest processing. Farmers already face lengthy delays in receiving the Farm Household Allowance and those delays are compounded by Centrelink consultants withdrawing their services through nonpayment. The incompetence of this minister and this government is absolutely disgraceful.

While it is welcoming to hear that the government is trying to address some of the shortfalls and issues with the Farm Household Allowance scheme, its processing of applications and ultimately getting help to farmers, I fear, may be too little too late for some. How many farmers have walked away because the system was too hard? How many hours, days and weeks of anguish have been caused by these delays? I am really not sure why it takes the government so long to admit it has got something incredibly wrong.

This was again demonstrated when the government attempted to push a 19 per cent backpacker tax through the Senate. On and on went the delays, with the government unwilling to accept responsibility for the disaster in Tasmania's horticulture industry. The government in its infinite wisdom was almost going to let the debate stall, leaving backpackers paying 32.5 per cent. However, in the dying days of the last sitting weeks of parliament, the government found an ally, the Greens.

There are several other examples of this government's inaction and of this minister's lazy approach to agriculture. Without going into too much detail, this government can easily be tagged as a total fizzer when it comes to supporting the agricultural sector and farmers. There are many failures at Centrelink, a problem mainly caused by the government's cuts. I acknowledge the work that Centrelink staff do in what must be extraordinary and unprecedented times. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people across the country are hit with accusations that they owe money, thanks to an ill-designed and incompetent system with little oversight. We hear examples of that all the time. It sounds to me like this government never learns by its mistakes.

Clearly the minister is not serious about his job or regional and rural communities or the agriculture sector, and certainly not household assistance for farmers. Earlier today the member for Hunter talked about a number of areas in which this minister has failed. For instance, he changed the Hansard around an issue in 2014. The secretary of his department obviously could not deal with the minister's behaviour and so he resigned. He wrote to the minister:

I am writing to advise you that I no longer have confidence in my capacity to resolve matters relating to integrity with you.

That was Paul Grimes, the previous secretary of the department. It is quite clear that this minister has lost any credibility in this portfolio area. The APVMA is another example that the member for Hunter pointed to of the clear failure of this minister and this government to get anything right.

While these changes are welcome, I simply hope that they are not too late for the farmers of this country.

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