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

They say self-praise is no praise. That is exactly what this motion is all about. It is the member for New England's desperate attempt to secure recognition for his time as the agriculture minister, a job he walked away from when it all became too hard. Sure, there has been an attempt to hide the real intent of the motion, with praise for our farmers, and we support that, and a call to stand by them in their time of need, an intent we also support. But therein lays the inherent irony of the member for England's motion. He wants the parliament to concurrently shower praise on his time as the minister while lamenting the very significant challenges our farmers currently face.

The member for New England is fond of taking credit for good news in the sector but always, conveniently, ignores the commodity sectors doing it tough, and there are many. I mean, who in this place would attempt to argue, very courageously, that the dairy sector as a whole is doing well, Mr Deputy Speaker? Of course, no-one will. No-one speaking on this motion, including the member for Hinkler, I suspect, will stand and say the dairy sector as a whole is doing well. It's just one example of sectors facing significant challenges and doing it tough.

According to ABARES, national farm cash income for broadacre farms in 2017-18 fell 10 per cent. I'm not suggesting that this is a reliable measure of the success of the farm sector, but nor should the member for New England claim credit for drought induced higher cattle prices or production values in the years immediately following the 2013 election.

Mr Joyce interjecting—

I hear the member for New England interjecting. He challenges the proposition that recent high cattle prices and sheep meat prices are not drought induced. Is that the proposition he's putting by way of interjection?

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