Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Agriculture minister: farm debt in 2003 was $31 billion and is now $64 billion. Thirty thousand families have exited farming. Will the minister restore an ag bank lending at two per cent from Treasury's three; pressure Queensland to provide every northern landholder with a 200 hectare freehold irrigation block; and provide four $50 million loans, creating an abattoir in four gulf mid-west watering works, each with 50 such blocks?

Ms MacTiernan interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Perth will desist!

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. There are a variety of issues that he has mentioned there. I would like to address them as best I can. He just dropped off a sheet with them on it.

As to the first issue he brought up, of the ag bank: might I remind the member that we are trying our best. We actually have $700 million now approved, one in a tranche of $420 million and the next in a tranche of $280 million. Imminently, within the next couple of days, we will have a further announcement in that space, to further assist people, especially in his area, and I am going to Winton on Friday to make sure that we remain in contact with those people. We know they are doing it tough. We are happy that, at this point in time, they are being blessed with a little bit of rain, and we hope that that continues, because that will assist the cattle prices and assist people getting back onto their feet.

He also mentioned 200 hectare freehold irrigation blocks, and we understand that stored water is wealth. Water is wealth. And that is why I am chairman of the dams committee, and, on our side of parliament, we believe in building dams. We believe that this is a program that has to go forward. That is why we have already started. We have started four. There is Chaffey. We have started one at Nimmitabel. There is the redesign of the lakes at Menindee. These are the sorts of programs that are going forward, and we will have, imminently, further announcements in that space as well.

I have a dams committee together at this point in time. I have had all the major banks and the major financiers in, and this helps us promote irrigation in the north. In the last three weeks I have been to the north, to the Gulf, and looked at an area where we can deliver a new agricultural precinct near Normanton that would be bigger than the Ord. Do you know how much money they want from the government? Not a cent. What they want is to get the regulations right and get them right out of the way. If we get them out of the way then we can progress.

The final thing he mentioned in the last minute was $50 million loans creating an abattoir for the Gulf midwest. Efic has the capacity to assist in export programs to get new markets going, and I might direct the honourable member to discussions—

An opposition member: It is an abattoir.

That is exactly where you would do it with Efic. I direct the honourable member to further discussions with the trade minister, who has that in his portfolio. I am sure he would give you a much better and more proficient answer than I would, seeing as it is not in my portfolio. But I commend the member for his interest in this area. We will be trying to do as much as we can to assist the people of the north, just like we try to assist everywhere. Under this government, we are turning around agriculture and we are getting the business done. I have got $2.45 as the price for live cattle at this point in time at Darwin. That is a classic example of the difference a different government can make.