Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

What we see from this government is continually trying to blame the states for their job. Last time I checked the Constitution, they are responsible for quarantine. Last time I checked, they run the Seasonal Worker Program. That is the point.

A government member interjecting—

No, the farmers know I'm not wrong. I can tell you that. When I've was talking to them in my home state last week, they knew your government hadn't done its job. They know the government is still sitting on the National Workforce Strategy. It was given to the minister. Consultations closed in August last year, and it's been on his desk since October, sitting there. The government hasn't done its job.

A government member interjecting —

It's on your government website, you know. It's actually on your own website. It is just outrageous that they come into this place and try to blame state premiers because they didn't do their job. Instead, perhaps they could actually show some empathy for what is happening on the farms around Australia, for the farmers.

You pretend that you support the farmers, you pretend you are the farmers' friend, but you don't do anything to help them—absolutely nothing. To date, $45 million of fruit and vegetables has gone to rot on farms because they haven't been able to get the produce off. They haven't been able to get the produce off because your government hasn't done its job. That is absolutely what has happened here. I cannot believe that you would put a motion like this, trying to blame one state premier for an issue in one state, when this is a nationwide issue. It is happening all around the country. Your government was supposed to coordinate a response and said it would and it did not. It has not done its job.

I cannot believe that those opposite would come in here and make these outrageous statements. Where is the empathy for all the hard work that has happened on the farms? Where is the empathy for all the families and friends I know that have gone in to help the farmers pick their crop and for all the local employment programs, where people are actually trying to get people trained to get this produce out of the farms and onto the tables and into the supermarkets around Australia? I'm standing with the farmers; it's a shame the government didn't.

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