Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture. I remind the minister that I met recently with Port Curtis Dairy Co-operative, representing dairy farmers in Central Queensland, farmers like Peter Woodland at Yongala and Ray Cloose from Rossmoya near Rockhampton. How would abolishing the carbon tax and signing a free trade agreement with South Korea help create jobs in the dairy industry?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia and the work she has been doing with the dairy farmers at Port Curtis. I let the dairy farmers know of the correspondence has come to my office by reason of the member for Capricornia. She is a diligent and hard worker for that area. But of course the dairy farmers of Capricornia have a range of issues that they need to deal with—and I commend the work that the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, is doing to make sure they are treated fairly as well. One of the things we can change is the excessive costs that they are having to deal with. If we go through the life of a dairy farmer: with a dairy farmer, if it is steel posts, they have to pay the carbon tax on those—or the steel mill does, if the steel mill is in Australia; if the steel mill is supporting Australian working families, they have to pay the carbon tax. But, of course, if the steel comes in from overseas, they do not pay the carbon tax. They have to pay the carbon tax on the wire, if it is from Australia, if it is supporting Australian working families; but, if it comes in from overseas, they do not pay the carbon tax.

In the shed, they have to pay the carbon tax when the electricity is going, so it is going to cost more to milk. And then when it gets to the processor, did you know that down south at Murray-Goulburn they paid $14 million in carbon tax in 2013? This is the sort of cost involved.

Even when you get to the end of the cow's life, and they take it to the abattoir, which supports Australian working families—who, you would think, would be supported by the Australian Labor Party, but they are not: they want to move Australian jobs overseas, and they have been doing a very good job of it—they pay the carbon tax. If you emit 24,999 tonnes of carbon, you do not pay the carbon tax. But if you emit 25,000 tonnes of carbon at that abattoir—like you would at Casino, to the south of you, member for Capricornia—then you do pay the carbon tax, at $24.15 per tonne. In fact, that beast that goes through and triggers the 25,000 tonnes at $24.15 is a $603,000 beast! And where would a lunatic policy like that come from? From the Australian Labor Party! Why don't you stand up for Australian working families—get rid of the carbon tax, stop wrestling with your mates in the Greens and look after Australian working families.