Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I take the interjection from the member for Kennedy. He's a very tough act to follow. Boosting critical minerals processing and production is an issue of national importance and security. Given the deposits of critical minerals in central western New South Wales, it is possible that this bill could bring benefits to our area that will result in employment and business opportunities.

Against this is the fact that the areas of priority are far too restrictive. This bill could be of much greater benefit to our nation, particularly country Australia, if the areas of priority were expanded to include food processing and agriculture. We saw during COVID how vulnerable nations were when their supply chains were cut or threatened. Food security must be a key priority of our nation. Food processing is one area in which Australia does have a strong advantage. Our processing plants are in close proximity to our primary producers, and it's one area of our economy which requires strong support.

If you look at the food-processing operations in the Calare electorate, they include such powerhouses as Ferrero, which makes Australia's Nutella and Tic Tacs in Lithgow, and Simplot, which produces the iconic Chiko roll. As we know, Bathurst is the undeniable and undisputed home of the Chiko roll. We have two pet food processing plants, with the Mars Petcare plant at Bathurst and the Nestle Purina factory at Blayney, while Devro in Bathurst makes sausage casings. We also have very vibrant food processing businesses in our smaller communities, such as Manildra Mill, which is a flour mill in Manildra, and the MSM Milling plant, which processes canola oil in Manildra.

It is of great concern to me that this sector has inexplicably been overlooked in this legislation. Those industries need all the support they can get. They are a huge employer in our area. It really surprises me that food processing has not been identified as a area of national priority and support. This package will deliver tens of billions of dollars, but how much of that will actually flow to the regions? At the moment, it doesn't look like any is flowing to food security and the future generations of Australians that are employed in agriculture and food processing. It is a glaring oversight in this bill.

Another glaring oversight is the lack of support for agriculture in this bill. Australia has the best produce in the world. The food basket of our country is located in regional Australia—in particular, central western New South Wales—and it defies belief that the agriculture sector has not been identified as an area of priority for this bill. The gross value of agricultural production has increased by 51 per cent in the last 20 years, to $94.3 billion in 2022-23. If you look back to the global financial crisis and then the crisis brought on by the pandemic, one of the key sectors which carried Australia through was agriculture. Agriculture has been a vital plank in Australia's economic prosperity that has sustained our nation through the generations. We need to support it. If you want to support food security and production, protect against supply chain disruptions and boost regional employment, you have to support agriculture. So let's funnel some of this money to agriculture.

We can also support agriculture by cutting red tape for ag businesses. We can support their export markets and not destroy them. I am talking about keeping the sheep. We can funnel some of this funding to support ag startups. Let's support jobs in agriculture. If you want to talk about the environment, there are some very promising developments in agriculture that benefit both farmers and the environment, including the conversion of atmospheric CO2 to soil carbon, which increases yields and also allows farmers to turn a badly needed dollar or two. It really is highly surprising that agriculture has not been a part of the conversation surrounding this bill. Our farmers and food processors deserve much better, as do the supply chains that support them.

I therefore flag that I will be moving amendments to include food processing and agriculture as areas of priority in this bill and the billions of dollars of funding that this bill will deliver. I do so wanting to draw the government's attention to the fact that these key sectors have been overlooked, and they must be supported. If we want this bill to be effective, we need to support agriculture and food processing and to bolster Australia's food security.

As my amendments make clear, I have concerns as to whether this bill will deliver tangible benefits to our regional communities. I share the concerns of the member for Indi, who referred to a giant question mark over the integrity and transparency aspects of this bill. It is right to ask whether the public has a clear line of sight on where the $22.7 billion of our country's wealth will be spent. I'm just not convinced that this bill, as it stands at the moment, will deliver and see enough benefits flowing to central western New South Wales.

I would urge all members in this House at this time, including the member for Kennedy and the member for Wide Bay—I know the member for Wide Bay has crossed the aisle and, indeed, sat on the crossbench before—to support this bill. I would urge the government to back my amendments supporting food processing and agriculture and all of the hard-working women and men in regional Australia who are employed in those sectors.

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