Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Minister, what is the greatest threat to certainty that is facing wheat growers with this year’s harvests?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Flynn for his question and I note his strong interest in agricultural issues. I also acknowledge the level of enthusiasm for the subject that has come from across the chamber. I have to say that I thought there might have been a question from the other side about this issue. Clearly, there is a lot of passion coming through the papers on this. However, what we need to understand with the legislation that is to be introduced in the budget sittings is: what happens if nothing changes? What happens to certainty for wheat growers if that legislation does not go through?

If nothing changes, on 30 June this year the veto power of the minister will disappear. That is what will happen under the legislation that was left to this government. However, the second thing that will happen is that growers will be exposed with no protections—no protections, which otherwise will be provided by the legislation being brought through by the government. First, there would be no probity test to make sure that a buyer of wheat is in a financial position to carry out the purchase, and, secondly, there would be no guaranteed access arrangements—no arrangements to make sure that we do not end up with monopoly situations being abused at the ports.

How can growers be given certainty? How can we make sure that we send a message to growers that goes beyond the old National Party policy that growers will not be allowed to choose who they sell their wheat to? That is the guts of the Nationals policy on this. They will not allow growers to choose who they sell to. Certainty can be given very simply. It is for the Leader of the Nationals—not in his role as the Leader of the Nationals but in his role as a coalition frontbencher—to declare a coalition position in support of reform of the current wheat arrangements.

There is a reason why he cannot do that. Quite simply, the relationship between the Liberal Party and the National Party has broken down entirely. On 10 March, the Manager of Opposition Business in this House made a comment to the media, referring to the Nationals:

… they now have lost their unique identification with the country.

That is his position. Interestingly, that is the position also of the member for North Sydney—and in a moment I will get to the affinity that North Sydney has with the Nationals. However, before I do that, it was also put well today by another Liberal MP from out Goulburn way, the member for Hume. He commented:

There’s two options—the Liberal Party can sit back and wait for them to die and contest their seats, or the remnant—

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It may come as some surprise to the minister but the question was in relation to wheat marketing. I draw your attention to the relevance of his answer.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will return to the question.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The concern that we have is to make sure that we can provide growers with certainty. The Senate numbers being what they are, certainty is only going to be provided by a unified coalition position. That is how it becomes possible to give certainty to the growers. While the member for North Sydney clearly understands the concerns and why that certainty is not being provided, the New South Wales Nationals are holding their next state conference in his seat. Here is the brochure for the next New South Wales conference of the National Party; they are going to be at the Kirribilli Club. The Nationals, ‘the party of the bush’, now make the Kirribilli Club their place to meet.

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Could you please ask the minister to come back to the substance of the question.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister should refer more specifically to threats, not to other business.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The threat of the legislation being defeated in the Senate by the coalition failing to have a unified position creates a real threat to every wheat grower in Australia. I remind the Leader of the Nationals of comments he made in this House last week where he objected to some of the approvals of permits which had been made, without recognising that, when I did not exercise veto with respect to those permits, after 30 June my veto power will be gone and they would have been automatically registered anyway. Those individual ones would have been automatically registered. The Nationals do not seem to understand the problem that the legislation that is currently in place faces. You only have to walk past the office of the Leader of the Nationals. You see his photo there in the corridors of parliament; it has the sign ‘Deputy Leader of the Nationals’.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will get back to the question.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will get back to the question.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I said ‘Deputy Leader of the Nationals’ and I should correct that to ‘Leader of the Nationals’; the word ‘Deputy’ has got green sticky tape over it. For wheat growers to be given certainty, the legislation that we currently face has to be taken into account. The legislation that we currently face was given clear sunset provisions, which expire on 30 June. Any debate, and the need to make sure we have sensible arrangements from 1 July onwards, needs to take that into account.