Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, member for Hunter—who's still here—it was a really poor approach that Labor took in the run to the election around the dairy industry. It was simply opportunistic. For those of us who understand the industry, we saw it for exactly what it was—and opportunism is its name. It certainly didn't help the industry one little bit.

I'm pleased that our farm production is up 25 per cent since 2017. That's up since we've been in government. I'm equally pleased to see the amount of fabulous produce that our farmers send around the world. During the global financial crisis, it was our agricultural sector that underpinned our terms of trade and that did the job for Australia. Yes, we are frequently those who do our job quietly. We just get on with it in rural and regional Australia. We actually have a range of policies that actually support rural and regional Australians.

I would talk about our free trade agreements as well. They have been very, very beneficial to our rural and regional exporters, particularly our farming sector. We've seen our Regional Investment Corporation out there. It's also open for business as well. I'm particularly proud this week about the future drought fund. For those of us who live and work in rural and regional Australia—

Mr Gosling interjecting—

See this speech in context