Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for agriculture for allowing me to ask some questions to the minister on behalf of a number of constituents in my electorate, and I look forward to the minister's reply. Farming and agriculture, right through to food and wine trails, are so important in the electorate of Gilmore. They are important for jobs, our community, local spending, tourism and more.

My first question to the minister is: in these strange world times of drought, bushfires, floods, pandemic and plague, and considering local farmers are already finding it difficult to find workers, can the minister guarantee that, after the latest Australia-UK trade deal, which will see 10,000 UK visa holders no longer required to work on Australian farms during their stay, local farmers will still have access to farm workers? The National Farmers Federation have expressed their concerns about when the ag visa will be delivered. My next question is: given the likely delay in the ag visa's implementation, how will the government manage that transition so that no local farmers will be left worse off? Given the government's plan to grow Australian agriculture to $100 billion by 2030, what plans does the government have to invest more in attracting, training, mentoring and retaining local workers on farms? Where is the strategic workforce plan for our agriculture industries?

Given constituents in my electorate have seen so many disasters, when will the government provide a national response to the mouse plague? Not only are they contending with mice, but farmers and people in Kangaroo Valley are also very concerned about the ever-growing carp plague in the beautiful Kangaroo River. What are the government's plans to address the ever-growing problem of carp in our waterways?

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