Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There we go—they were destroyed. It only cost a bullet. They had to transport them one way; then they had to dig a hole for them and pay for a bullet. It's pretty tough. The government just thinks: 'We can make these decisions. It'll make somebody in the middle of Melbourne happy, and the farmers will be right. What the hell! They've been complaining since Adam was a lad. It'll all be okay.' It won't be okay. You can't just keep pushing it and pushing it and thinking it's all going to be okay in the end.

What these widespread attacks on agriculture—random attacks on agriculture, if you like—and this live sheep trade dispute have done is to draw a line in the sand. It has actually brought some farming organisations out to say: 'We're going to fight on this one. This is it. If we don't have a moment where we all come together and say, "No more," we are going to go under.' The farming organisations have come together in Western Australia. They've launched an appeal to raise $6 million to fight for the five marginal seats in Western Australia, to bring them back. I don't even know that they'll bring them back. They're going to argue for a coalition member to sit in them. Perhaps they'll be voting for an Independent, Deputy Speaker Wilkie, but what they will do is to spread the message: 'Keep me farming. Put Labor last.' That's the message we need to get out there, and we'll do it. If we can get farmers motivated, they will do it right across Australia on the issues that are hurting them in their own constituencies.

This is a bad bill and it should be condemned.

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