Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is directed to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. With the price of diesel now rising to $1.90 a litre and decimating the fishing industry, what does the government propose to do to assist this industry through its current crisis?

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

I am aware that the honourable member has made comments to the media today about some of the diesel rebate issues and some of the impacts that is having on the fishing sector. I think the issue to which he points is a significant one to the extent that, in the fishing industry, one of their prime inputs is the cost of fuel. This is one of those areas where the issues of climate change, fuel prices and food prices all intersect. These are challenges being faced around the world. What we have seen is that the increase in fuel prices around the world has gone onto the input prices throughout agriculture, throughout fisheries and throughout forestry. The specific example of fisheries goes very much to the fuel question, which goes to the issues that have been reported in the press and on the radio today. The issues which go to agriculture include those inputs plus the interrelated issues of fertiliser.

In relation to the issues referred to in today’s media concerning the rebate—which I mentioned earlier—I am not going to pretend that any of the improvements there provide some sort of complete solution for the fishing industry. I am not going to pretend that having some policy levers providing some level of relief actually put the industry in a positive frame at the moment. They are facing very real difficulties. There are areas where there can be limited assistance given by the government, but at the same time we all have to be completely up-front about the fact that our primary producers, because of world oil prices and world input prices, are facing extremely tough times.