Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to give fair warning to the whips, who may be listening: I don't propose being on my feet for the full 10 minutes, but I did want to follow the shadow minister, the member for Hunter, to emphasise the importance of the amendment to this bill. The Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Amendment Bill 2018 itself is fairly unremarkable. The role of RDCs is supported by both sides of the House. The shadow minister quite eloquently described how important they are in terms of providing expert advice on agricultural policy to the government. As he said, we need to make sure that their expertise is properly utilised, and he's proposed a way forward on that.

I wanted to get to my feet today to talk about the shadow minister's second reading amendment. It is an important amendment to this bill, because, if you turn on the television anywhere in Australia today, it's drought-affected New South Wales and Queensland that are right there in full view. This country arguably has never seen a worse drought. Thousands and thousands of families are affected by it. Millions of Australians have responded with donations, as is the Australian way. We've seen convoys of hay and feed making their way to these drought-stricken farmers. This parliament has a duty to do all that it can to ensure that farmers in regional communities are supported in their time of need, so it's disappointing that the bill before the House today fails to ensure the collection of levies and charges that are directed to our agriculture-based research and development corporations, enabling a greater effort to improve the take-up of the best and latest farm management practices, particularly in light of the current drought crisis.

We need to get serious as a nation about encouraging farmers to employ the best and latest farm management practices. That includes—it must include—a focus on climate change, which arguably poses the greatest threat to farming in Australia today. I note the member for Dawson interjected earlier, saying, 'Stop it? How are you going to stop climate change?'

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