Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

And a capable seconder he is, because he informs me dutifully that he went to an agricultural high school—well done, Dr Leigh.

In putting that amendment forward, I re-emphasise that this is a minister who loves making announcements, but where's the follow-through? Let me go through some of the things that were announced: a drought resilience self-assessment tool, $3 million, with the first phase of the tool expected to be operational before 30 June 2021; climate services for the agriculture program, $10 million, with the first phase of the platform expected to be operational before 30 June 2021; National Resource Management Drought Resilience Program—Landscapes, $5 million, with funds expected to be provided for activities to commence in February 2021; and National Resource Management Drought Resilience Program grants, $10 million, with funding for successful applicants expected to be provided for activities to commence in early 2021.

So, 2021 is going to be a big year in responding to drought—a hell of a time, given what people have had to go through out in the regions, tackling drought. With most of these funds, these activities, it's great to announce them, or talk about them here at the dispatch box, but look at the actual implementation. More examples: drought resilience research and adoption, $20.3 million, with the call for applications for innovation grants expected to be open in February 2021, and networks for building drought resilience, $8.75 million, a competitive grant with the first round to select a provider to deliver the program expected to open in September 2020—and we look forward to seeing the results of that.

With some of the things I mentioned, where people have struggled and had to face that level of adversity, you would expect that there'd be a lot more dexterity and speed by the government in order to get through all that and deliver it in a meaningful way. We still hear, for example, concerns about the Future Drought Fund. Certainly you'd expect a lot more money to be flowing to affected communities as a result of that. But early on in my service in this shadow ministerial portfolio I'm hearing the concern that it's not moving fast enough. The fact that I'm picking that up in such a short period of time should be a concern to the government.

I also want to reflect, if I may—on indulgence—on something else that happened in the past week. In order to get across these issues and particularly to understand what's happening in rural and regional communities, for people across the country, we depend on a vibrant media that is reporting on the things that are affecting rural and regional communities. It was my great pleasure last week to attend an awards evening that recognised the contributions of journalists in rural and regional Australia, in particular during the tough year that people have experienced. The event was convened by the National Rural Press Club and supported by a number of companies, and I want to commend those companies for the support they gave, as this forms a vital platform for recognising the contribution of rural journalists.

The National Rural Press Club 2020 Excellence in Rural Journalism Awards evening was held at the National Press Club here in Canberra. The awards presented included the Westpac Best News Story award, the Animal Medicines Australia Best Feature Story award, the CropLife Scoop of the Year award, the CaseIH Best Photograph of the Year award, the National Rural Press Club Best New Journalist or Cadet award and the overall winner award. These awards went to a number of people who I particularly want to highlight.

One winner who stood out for me was the overall award winner, Sean Davey. He was the unanimous choice of the judges for his picture capturing a particularly difficult moment in time that summed up months of horrendous events. His photo of a farmer, Steve Shipton, having to put down an injured calf in his paddock after a bushfire in New South Wales on 1 January this year is a very powerful image. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words, and this one certainly did. It obviously captured what a lot of farmers had to go through over the course of that event.

There were a number of other awards as well, as I mentioned. Clare Armstrong, from The Daily Telegraph, took out the Westpac Best News Story. The Animal Medicines Australia Feature Story went to Clint Jasper, who is part of the ABC's national regional reporting team, for his report on the scrapping of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. He also filed a number of reports on the bushfires. The CropLife Scoop of the Year award went to The Australian's Rosie Lewis in respect of the Eden-Monaro by-election earlier this year. The CaseIH Best Photograph of the Year award went to Sean Davey. And I want to extend my congratulations, because it's always important to recognise people coming through the ranks and taking up the case of quality rural journalism, to the Best New Journalist or Cadet award winner, Andrea Cantle from the Bay Post. She joined the Bay Post as a cadet last year, and, in some of the most difficult circumstances so early in a career, had to cover a bomb scare that evacuated the CBD of the bay area and did outstanding coverage of the bushfires, which devastated her new home. For a period of time, she had to share premises with the editor. She has shown huge commitment and professionalism. So, with the indulgence of the House, I extend my congratulations to all those rural journalists who do an exceptional job in speaking up for rural and regional Australia and ensuring that the rest of the country is aware of the challenges in these areas.

I'll conclude my remarks at that. I do hope that, in the course of the debate, we get some expression of urgency from the government to do a better job in making sure the legislation that's brought into the House gets acted upon in a much more timely way, because there are a lot of people outside of here who are dependent on laws proposed by this government to benefit the sector into the years ahead.

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