Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor has always recognised the important contribution from our agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors, particularly in regional Australia. Total production this year is forecast to be more than $90 billion. We are well on the way to meeting the industry's target of $100 billion of annual production by 2030. Trade in agriculture, fisheries and forestry products is critical for our continued economic development as a nation. This year alone, Australia is expected to earn $82 billion in export income from trade in food and fibre. This underpins almost 240,000 direct jobs in agriculture Australia-wide, most of which are in our regional, rural and remote areas, including in my electorate of Hawke.

This May budget invests a record $1.5 billion to protect and grow our booming agricultural industries. Unlike the former Liberal government, we aren't just talking about the importance of the regions; we are backing them in—putting our money where our mouth is, so to speak. Investments in this budget will protect and grow the agriculture sector, as it is critical for trade, economic resilience and, importantly, jobs in regional Australia. Critically, Labor is delivering on its election commitment to provide long-term, sustainable funding for biosecurity.

I support the comments from the member for Paterson that this investment is long overdue. We have drawn a line under the years of stopgap, temporary budget booby traps and biosecurity funding cuts from the National Party that put the regions at risk. We've reversed the $100 million annual funding cut that was locked in by the former Liberal-National government. It's astounding to think that National Party ministers—I'm talking about the member for New England and Senator McKenzie—allowed this to happen while they sat in the Morrison cabinet and on the Expenditure Review Committee of that former government.

Biosecurity is a shared responsibility, and so is paying for it. The Albanese Labor government's $1 billion sustainable funding model is the start of a new era for biosecurity in Australia. The Albanese government is providing $845 million for biosecurity operations, including support for frontline workers at seaports and airports around the nation; $145 million for digital systems to streamline process and make it easier for industry; and $40 million for Indigenous rangers in northern Australia to support First Nations to work on country protecting our coastline. Our investments will protect and grow our agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries in a way that is fairer, more equitable and more accountable than ever before.

I'd also like to support comments from the member for Lyons about the importance of our forestry industry. The Albanese Labor government supports sustainable forestry and continues to invest in forestry industry innovation, manufacturing and skills development. The October budget included $300 million in new measures to support the forestry sector. We are expanding the plantation estate. We are modernising our manufacturing processes and giving workers the skills they need in a modern, sustainable industry.

Our forestry industry generates more than 15,000 jobs in my state of Victoria. Almost half of these are in wood product manufacturing. Forestry also makes an important contribution to the fight against climate change. Native forest production contributed a net carbon sink of 39 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020. That is through sequestration from regrowth, which exceeded emissions from harvesting. Sustainable forestry, the sector itself and the workers within it contribute to achieving our carbon targets, capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere into our trees and the products that are made from them.

I am incredibly proud to be part of a Labor government that is continuing to protect and grow our agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors so that we can support regional Australia in the generations to come by providing clean, green, sustainable and renewable jobs.

See this speech in context