Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hunter for this opportunity to recognise our agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors and our agricultural workforce more broadly. It's a pleasure to follow the member for Hunter, the member for Paterson and the member for Gilmore in this debate—all very fine regional representatives. As a representative of a regional electorate myself, I'm proud to be part of a government that is delivering for Australian farmers and producers. In my own electorate, the agricultural sector is one of the highest employment industries, second only to the healthcare sector, with around 10 per cent of my constituents directly employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing. More broadly, Tasmania's agricultural sector is a major contributor to the state's economy. In 2023 farm-gate value exceeded $2 billion for the first time.

The Albanese government is continuing to deliver practical support for Tassie's farmers and for our regions. At the end of last year, I joined the Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries and Water at Greg Gibson's farm at Hagley. I spoke to Greg and other local farmers about the recent completion of the Greater Meander Irrigation Scheme augmentation project—that's a mouthful!—and what it means for their business and the wide industry in Tasmania. The federal government invested $5 million through the National Water Grid Fund to this project, which included upgrades to pump stations and new pipelines to transfer water more effectively and efficiently across the Meander Valley. For producers like Greg, secure access to water for farming means increased confidence and security to grow and develop farming operations, and this project is just one of the many that confirms the Australian government's ongoing support for the Tasmanian agricultural industry more widely, particularly for Tasmanian irrigation. I know it's got bipartisan support, which I'm pleased to see, but I like to make the point whenever I can that the Tasmanian irrigation scheme was started by Labor. I know those opposite like to talk about how they're the friends of the farmers, but it was David Llewellyn, when he was the Minister for Primary Industry and Forests in a former state Labor government, who got this on track with the support of farmers. It's been a raging success for our shared state ever since. Deputy Speaker Archer, I know you know just how well Tasmanian irrigation works.

I'm pleased as well that our government is investing more than $150 million to deliver the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme down in the Sorell region. That will drive further economic growth in Tasmania in what is a particularly dry part of the state. Powered 100 per cent by hydroelectricity—I think the member for Dawson's head will explode when he hears that—it will provide water to grow iconic Tasmanian produce like cherries, apples, salad vegetables, grapes, stone fruit and olives. I myself live on an old sheep paddock in that region, and all those places used to be the wheat belt back at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. To see these high-value products being grown in the region is just spectacular. An extra 37 gigalitres of water will be available to farmers in Tasmania's South East every year. That's the equivalent of almost 15,000 Olympic sized swimming pools every year. I'm not sure even Ariarne Titmus could get through that!

We also announced last month a further $20 million for the On Farm Connectivity Program to help farmers utilise new technology. Across Lyons, many producers have taken advantage of this innovative program so far, enhancing on-farm connectivity to monitor activity with real-time data, improve safety and increase productivity.

Importantly, farmers now have a government willing to work with them to meet our shared ambitions on sustainability and adapting to climate change. Together, we are developing a plan to reduce the sector's emissions and position Australia as a world-leading producer of food and fibre. Throughout their time in government, the coalition wilfully ignored the science and failed to act properly on climate change and its impact on farmers. They ignored the Australian agricultural industry's calls for action. Industry peaks were left to go alone, and of course Farmers for Climate Action was born; it now has very active chapters nationwide and particularly in Tasmania. There has been inaction by the coalition. Climate change has dramatically reduced farm profitability, with ABARES modelling indicating an average loss to farms of 23 per cent, or close to $29,000 per farm, over the period from 2001 to 2020. Our government is getting on with the job. We are protecting farmers. We love representing farmers, fishers and foresters, and we're getting on with the job.

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