David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Briefly, this is one of the most divisive, disgraceful amendments I've seen. We've had a nation that's been divided for the last six months, and now the member for Indi wants to come in here and pit community against community up and down the basin. We've had enough of that. We've explored that, and we've had it. The trauma is still there, and we're about to relive it. The member for Indi actually voted in the second reading debate for more buybacks, but then just then articulated the concern about the buybacks for her community. I just don't understand how the member for Indi can, with principle, stand there and support the government's bill to increase buybacks, and then move an amendment that says: 'Well, that's okay, because we don't want it to come from my part of the world.'

This is about equity, and to say that we're going to pit one community against another—we're better than that. This country's better than that and this parliament's better than that. How could you walk in here and say you want to pit one community against another? That's one of the most disgraceful things I've seen in this parliament, and the Nationals will not support it.

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