David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Hansard source

After 14 long months, we hear the voice of the Labor opposition agriculture spokesman. Never have I been asked, in question time, a question from the member for Hunter. Being the Labor spokesman for agriculture is a bit like being a labrador on the family farm: you're all cute and cuddly but you really have no purpose.

You don't take agriculture seriously. You know very well that you walked in here to try to politicise something because you've been left behind, you've been left at the gate. You know full well that we've already taken the steps to start a mandatory code of conduct. In fact, when the ACCC report that you're talking about came back, on 30 April, I consulted ADF. I understand you consulted ADF yesterday but didn't tell them about this little stunt, which is a bit of a shock to them, as I understand it. When I met with ADF, I said, 'I want the industry to tell me whether it wants a mandatory code.' The ACCC report came back on 30 April. They kept going and going and going, and it got to August. It got to the point where it had taken too long. I called ADF in and said, 'You've got two weeks to give me the direction as to whether you want a mandatory code, or we're going to have to make one for you.' To their credit, they stood up. They engaged with their membership and they came back to me two weeks later and asked for a mandatory code. So we have started that process and we are now at the end of the consultation.

This is about not rushing into it, with unintended consequences. We want to make sure we get this right. What the member for Hunter doesn't understand, which he should be embarrassed by, is that the reason it has to push out into 2020 is that we have to fall into line with current contract and production cycles. This is the danger of having somebody that doesn't understand the intricacies of production systems as the shadow agricultural spokesman. This is the danger of having someone that wants to grandstand rather than look after the farmers of regional and rural Australia as the shadow agricultural spokesman.

The dairy industry is doing it tough. In fact, in my own electorate, I've gone from having over 35 dairy farmers down to 15, and that's the result of the actions of our supermarkets. They've put in place a cap on the price of milk. They've made sure that the ceiling has been put at $1 a litre. I've called them out on that, and I'm proud to say that I've called them out on that. Every corporate citizen has a responsibility to have a sustainable industry that supports them and underlines their supply. That's why I've called them out. If the member for Hunter is upset by that, I'm sorry, but he's out of touch. He might have been here for 23 years. I grant you, I've only been here for 2½ years, but I think I'm a little bit more in touch with real people because I haven't been tainted by this place for 23 years.

Nonetheless, it's important that we get results, so we're acting on the mandatory code. The member for Hunter talked about the ACCC report, saying that we need to put in place a floor price. Let me give the member for Hunter a lesson on what the ACCC report came back with. It did not say anything about a floor price. The ACCC has never asked for a floor price on dairy. To come in here and say, 'Let's go and engage the ACCC to go back on a review they've already undertaken,' shows that their proposed motion has no substance. It is just about the last gasping days of the member for Hunter trying to get some attention. And, I've got to say, this is the first time I've seen a crowd behind him come to hear him talk.

It's important to make sure we get the mandatory code of conduct done and that we run it in a sustainable way—by putting in place a regulatory impact statement to ensure there are no unintended consequences. What the member for Hunter also needs to understand is that the dairy industry is a very geographically specific industry. You've got to understand that the industry in Victoria is different to that in New South Wales and Queensland and WA and South Australia. So we need to make sure that we do this in a sensible way.

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