Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments have been in power for six years. In those six years we have seen nothing but abject failure for farmers across the nation. No matter where you look the National Party, the fringe dwellers of the parliament—remember the National Party can't even garner five per cent of the vote nationally—do not represent people. The only people they represent are the likes of Rinehart and corporate farmers. When it comes to family farms, family farmers know the one thing that can be guaranteed is the National Party selling them out in the blink of an eye.

We've seen that even this week, as farmers struggle through drought, needing help and support now. This lazy mob opposite have gone out and put a bill in that does not send any money or support to farmers for 12 more months. At the same time, in the house of snooze over there, one of the Queensland senators got up and said that the Victorian government must end its ban on fracking. Farmers who are struggling to pay to put food on the table and to pay their bills are being forced by this government to comply with the desires of multinational gas companies. They don't want to see the continuation of farming. They want those farmers to sell out. That way, they can get the gas from underground.

Now, if you cared about farmers—if you actually cared about regional communities—you would be out there supporting the Andrews government in ensuring that farming land stays for farmers, not for gas companies. But no: this government, this coalition, come in here and for six years have done nothing but short-change farmers and rural and regional communities. We saw that when SPC was in trouble. The only level of government that did not want to support SPC, a national brand, was this federal government. They walked right away. It was up to the state Labor government to step in and keep that business afloat.

You heard earlier one of the incoherent rants from opposite about water. Well, let's talk about water. Six years of this government has seen the death and the destruction of the Murray-Darling Basin—Murray cod of over 100 years of age, floating up rivers because this government has been asleep. You sit there and ask, 'What is going on?' For 100 years these fish have lived in these rivers. They've survived every drought and everything that's been thrown at them, but now they can't, because this mob have failed them—and failed them miserably.

We heard about the APVMA. If you ever want to see brilliance in National Party politicians, look at the member for New England, who took away our central organisation, and for 12 months they had to work out of a McDonald's in Armidale because they had no ability to do their job. We've seen the issue we have with bees in Australia—another problem that's happened on this government's watch because they're asleep at the wheel. While standing up and fighting hard to get tax cuts for people earning over $200,000 a year, they've decided to sell the family farmers down the street.

They do not care. They have never, ever come in here and actually stood up for farmers. The National Party like to pretend they're tigers out in the country, when they get up here, get straight on the lap of the Liberals and do nothing. We saw that with the Building Australia Fund. Last night, as I said, we saw them bring a bill into this place and ram it through without proper consultation, without proper debate, to greater fund help to farmers—not this year, when they need it, not when they're struggling after many years of drought, but off in the never-never. But what they're doing is raiding $3.9 billion out of the infrastructure fund that means rural communities like the ones I represent can't get roads done, can't get rail transport done, can't get support, because they're taking it to try to pork barrel the Nats.

Farmers are the ones who suffer because the National Party are not the country party anymore. That's long gone. That's dead and buried. All they are is city-based MPs, sitting there putting on an Akubra and pretending they represent the bush. But they don't. We saw today the minister for emissions increase openly stand in this parliament and not tell the truth about farmers in the area that the member for Eden-Monaro represents. (Time expired)

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