Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on how the government's policies are helping to grow Australia's rural exports. How is this growth playing a key role in rebalancing the Australian economy following the resources boom? Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware of any threats to the progress the government is making?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question. I note that the honourable member lives in an area which has large-scale farming and is obviously one of the largest electorates in Australia—certainly the largest electorate in South Australia—and that he is a person with extensive farming experience.

It is good to note the returns that we are getting as a manifest expression of the good economic management of this side of the House in the agricultural sector. We note that, as the latest figures show, Australia's economic growth is about three per cent, which is better than the OECD average. That is also a sign of the overall management of our nation. But the gross value of farm production for the financial year ending 2015-16 is predicted by ABARES to be at 9.3 per cent. This in itself is three times better than the national average growth across the whole economy, and vastly—four times—better at least than the OECD growth. This is what is happening in our nation now.

Livestock is another classic example of this. In the financial year we are looking at a 13.3 per cent gross value increase in livestock production, which in itself is going all the way back through the farm gate and giving us a net average farm cash income of $179,000 from a gross income of around about $519,000. This is the highest in 20 years, and it shows that we are standing behind and delivering on our promise—we are delivering a better return through the farm gate. Of course the difference between those two figures, of around about $340,000, is the money that is going to the farm businesses, the hardware suppliers, the fuel suppliers and all of the other sections in those regional towns, boosting their economy as well. We stand behind this economic narrative with our white paper, which is delivering up to a quarter of a billion dollars a year in concessional loans to help those in droughts. We have the country of origin labelling which we are bringing forward; we have the ag commissioners who are now residing overseas to draw that product through; and we have a new ACCC commissioner in Mick Keogh.

Today we announced $31 million to increase the water infrastructure for Bothwell in the seat of Lyons, and in Riverina and Farrer we announced a further $12 million for irrigation infrastructure. We are building the architecture that stands behind agriculture production.

Finally, you asked if there are any threats to this. Quite obviously, one threat is a side of government—the Labor-Independent-Green side—which, at this point, has never come to this dispatch box and actually talked about an agricultural policy. This is the second-biggest export in this nation after iron ore, and they cannot even give it the dignity— (Time expired)