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

I move:

That this House:

(1) commends the hard working men and women of Australia's farms and rural industry;

(2) notes that Australia's total farm production is worth $62.3 billion in 2016-17, which is up almost 30 per cent since the Government came to office;

(3) notes that the value of agricultural exports is $49 billion in 2016-17, which is up 28 per cent since the Government came to office;

(4) notes the contribution of agriculture, forestry and fishing sector’s to Australia's economy is $45.7 billion in 2016-17, which is up 9 per cent since the Government came to office;

(5) commends the Government for its investment in Australian agriculture to create jobs and prosperity in rural communities; and

(6) stands with farmers across Australia facing severe hardship as a result of drought and recognises the Government's drought assistance measures.

Agriculture through the time of the coalition has had exponential growth in its exports and in the value of what it contributes to the Australian economy. It should be noted that, from the time we came to government to 2016, we've had in excess of a 25 per cent increase in our exports and the value of our agriculture. This is so vitally important in helping our nation progress.

We're doing this because the population of the globe is making its way to 10 billion people by 2050, and the basic requirements, the requirements to sustain that population, are increasing now in an exponential way. We're also noting that the benefits that have happened in the past from such things as the green revolution have now been absorbed by a vastly bigger population than we had in the 1940s.

Australia is playing its part and has to play its part. We've had a goal of doubling the value of our agriculture, not only for the benefit of our nation but also for the benefit of the world. We're also seeing that benefit now resting in places where there's been a struggle in the past. We've had a vast turnaround in the prospects of the wool industry. I note on the east coast how so many sectors are dealing with the drought, but when you have wool prices basically at a boom—we recently had lamb prices crack $300 for a lamb. I remember when, in selling lambs, we were really happy if we got 40 bucks—$40 was doing extremely well. Now we have lambs that sell for $300. What this means is that there's the capacity, as long as the seasons are with us, for us to get that exponential growth in the agricultural sector to flow back through the farm gate so we get a real turnaround in the prospects of people on the land.

To do that, however, we have to get them through this drought. We have to manage this drought. We have to make sure that these family farmers stay on the land and that basically the weather is not the reason that they go broke. We must make sure that they're there, because it will rain.

We've seen cattle prices in the term of the coalition government have a massive turnaround. Basically, we've seen in every sector—in the protein sector; in the fat sector, which is your dairy industry; in the fibre sector, such as the wool industry—massive turnarounds.

You've got to underpin these turnarounds by showing confidence in the industry, by backing such things as the live-sheep trade, the live-cattle trade and growth in the agriculture sector through the construction of dams and water infrastructure that are so important in underpinning the rural sector. You've got to show confidence in the sector by upgrading their roads and rail, getting things such as the inland rail built and roads sealed.

We have to have a target for our nation. We have to understand, for this nation to grow, you can't just concentrate on where the people are, you've got to concentrate on where your resources and wealth are as well. That's why projects such as the Outback Way to connect Boulia through to Laverton—to make sure that we get other sealed roads so that we can connect the tens of thousands of head of cattle that come out of such places as the Channel Country to markets—are also vitally important.

In my own electorate we're making sure we get an upgrade of such things as the Inverell saleyards and the Scone saleyards. These things are vitally important for the commerce of the area and to allow smaller producers to combine their cattle with other smaller producers so that they have the capacity to get the same premium for their product as people who can provide long lines of stock for sale.

The agriculture industry does have threats though. These would be a government that doesn't have the same passion and desire—the same desire to make sure they stand behind the live-sheep trade, stand behind the live-cattle trade and build the dams, build the inland rail, to make sure that they keep developing those markets that we develop, such as with our free trade deals to Korea, China and Japan. These have been so vitally important. It is to make sure we're adroit and adept in keeping the markets in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt open as well.

I know that the member for Hinkler as a former assistant trade minister is fully aware of how vitally important it is that we stand behind our agriculture production, from the sugar industry to the wool industry to the lamb industry to the beef industry, not just for the benefit of those on the land but for the benefit of our nation.

Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They say self-praise is no praise. That is exactly what this motion is all about. It is the member for New England's desperate attempt to secure recognition for his time as the agriculture minister, a job he walked away from when it all became too hard. Sure, there has been an attempt to hide the real intent of the motion, with praise for our farmers, and we support that, and a call to stand by them in their time of need, an intent we also support. But therein lays the inherent irony of the member for England's motion. He wants the parliament to concurrently shower praise on his time as the minister while lamenting the very significant challenges our farmers currently face.

The member for New England is fond of taking credit for good news in the sector but always, conveniently, ignores the commodity sectors doing it tough, and there are many. I mean, who in this place would attempt to argue, very courageously, that the dairy sector as a whole is doing well, Mr Deputy Speaker? Of course, no-one will. No-one speaking on this motion, including the member for Hinkler, I suspect, will stand and say the dairy sector as a whole is doing well. It's just one example of sectors facing significant challenges and doing it tough.

According to ABARES, national farm cash income for broadacre farms in 2017-18 fell 10 per cent. I'm not suggesting that this is a reliable measure of the success of the farm sector, but nor should the member for New England claim credit for drought induced higher cattle prices or production values in the years immediately following the 2013 election.

Mr Joyce interjecting—

I hear the member for New England interjecting. He challenges the proposition that recent high cattle prices and sheep meat prices are not drought induced. Is that the proposition he's putting by way of interjection?

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

I'm saying—

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, he's walking away from it now, I see. It's just like magic. He was elected in 2013, prices go up and he stands at the despatch box on a daily basis as agriculture minister and claims credit for them. I don't really know who he thinks he's talking to, because the producers know something very different. Then of course he tried to take credit for all the free trade agreements—projects commenced by a former Labor government. They have been important, and I congratulate the current government for completing them, as we would have done. But of course he doesn't ever talk about the significant non-tariff barriers that still stand in the way of those seeking to expand their interests in export markets. What a lazy approach to policy development to suggest that gaining access to a market on the same terms as our competitors is 'mission complete'. Of course it is not.

Competition remains the operative word in export markets, and our focus in policy development has to be on sustainable profitability. There also has to be as much focus on value, or the return we receive on our investments, as we have on volume. The member for New England likes to cite the value of production, but, as every first-year economics or accounting student knows, value doesn't mean profit by any stretch of the imagination. Profitability in the farm sector is very patchy. That is the reality.

As the president of the National Farmers' Federation, Fiona Simson, said in her National Press Club speech recently, 'Australia lacks a strategic plan for the agriculture sector'—hardly an endorsement for the member for New England's 2015 white paper, a white paper that is now considered to be a failure by all those who operate in the sector. We in the opposition also commend the hardworking men and women of the agriculture sector and other rural industries. Of course we do. But, as Fiona Simson also put it at the Press Club, 'We don't have a comprehensive national strategy to deal with drought.' They are not my words; they are the words of the president of the National Farmers' Federation. Why don't we? Because, unless we have a government prepared to acknowledge that climate is changing and prepared to act on both mitigation and adaptation, we will not have a comprehensive drought policy in this country.

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Natural disasters come in many forms, and they test communities, but the relentless and ongoing nature of drought makes it one of the most testing on individuals and communities. If you're hit by a bushfire, a flood or a cyclone, the damage may be tremendous, but you get up the next day and you deal with it. But drought is different. It goes on and on, day after day, week after week, month after month and, regrettably, sometimes year after year. The clouds come and the clouds go, and there is still no meaningful rain. This sort of situation tests the strength of individuals and the resilience of communities. My electorate, to this point, has largely been spared the worst of the drought, but the lack of rain is now certainly starting to have an impact on the farming sector.

There have been a range of measures from my electorate to assist the more drought-stricken areas, those areas hardest hit. These include efforts I have brought to the attention of this House, such as the Macleay Hay Run, which was organised by Josh and Shelly Ball, a very great measure by the Macleay Valley people to support drought-stricken farmers. And Park Beach Bowls Club, the Nambucca RSL and the Pier Hotel have made significant contributions to the drought effort.

The government is assisting farmers through a range of measures involving direct assistance and low-interest loans, with the latest rounds of support bringing the value of the Commonwealth's assistance to around $1.8 billion. Last month the coalition announced $190 million in measures, including a boost to the Farm Household Allowance package of an additional $12,000 per couple, bringing a year's assistance to some $37,000. Thousands more families will be able to access assistance, with the net asset threshold cap increasing from $2.6 million to $5 million. There are also additional resources being provided to the Rural Financial Counselling Service and increased funding for mental health and wellbeing support, so very important as a result of the relentless, ongoing nature of the drought, which tests individual so much. In addition, there are new taxation measures to assist with investment in grain storage.

But I'd like to also comment on the impact of the dry conditions on my electorate—in particular, on the dairy industry. My local dairy farmers are caught in a vice-like grip of low prices on the one hand and increased cost of inputs on the other. I've recently spoken to a number of dairy farmers who have expressed concern as to the long-term viability of the industry on the mid-north coast. The dry conditions have meant significant increases in the amount of feeding required for herds, and also the drought has meant that the cost of feed has increased from around $300 to $350 a tonne up to around $600 a tonne. It's a massive impost on these farmers at a time when revenue is not as strong as it needs to be.

On the revenue side, the industry is being battered by dollar milk, putting incredible pressure on efficient, long-term producers in my region. It seems a commercial injustice that you can go into a supermarket and it will ask you for around $1 for a litre of milk, and yet that same supermarket will charge you twice as much for a litre of water! It seems to make no sense at all, and it is having a massive impact on our local industry. If we value the presence of this industry in areas outside Victoria, then the long-term sustainability of the dairy industry and, in particular, the marketing phenomenon of dollar milk need to be addressed. A number of farmers in the industry have advised me that their families have been in the industry for generations and yet they are currently operating at a loss of around $100,000 a year. That's around 10 per cent of their turnover. That is clearly unsustainable in the long term.

The impact of the drought is not limited to the dairy sector in my electorate. It is having an impact on the beef sector. It's having an impact on horticulture. It is hitting these sectors quite hard. I commend the generosity of the people in my electorate for the great work that they have done in assisting areas that are more hard-hit than we are in the electorate of Cowper. These community efforts complement the work done by the government, but also, very importantly, send a strong signal to those hard-hit areas that there are other Australians out there who care. I certainly commend the efforts of these communities in assisting hard-hit communities and I commend the efforts of the government to assist in what is a massive disaster.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the motion moved by the member for New England. The member for New England, the Morrison government's drought envoy, is finally talking about farmers in the drought. As I flew in to Canberra this morning via Dubbo, I got another look at just how dry it is. Unfortunately, I didn't get time to call in and have a cup of tea with my in-laws who are living out there. But I'll tell you what: Dubbo, and everything west of there, is just so dry and doing it so tough.

In this motion, he's trying to convince us that there's really nothing to see here; prices are up; things are good. It's just not the case. Our farmers are not doing great, and many of them aren't even doing okay. If the member for New England was talking to the farmers in his community as I do to those in mine, I'm sure he'd know that. Sadly, I've had cause to speak many times in this place about the drought and how it's affecting farmers in my community. Even after days of rain, there is no hope on the horizon that, on many of our state's farms, this year's crop will be sown, let alone harvested, or that their stock will be fed or watered. On many, stock, especially prized breeding stock, are being sold off.

The member for New England's motion is more about self-congratulation, sadly, than recognising the critical contribution the agricultural industry makes to Australia's economy. While the figures quoted in this motion are encouraging for some, they come at the desperate expense of others—a fact that the newly-minted Prime Minister was quick to point out in a recent tweet. What is lacking in the member for New England's motion is hope—hope that this new Morrison government has recognised the dire situation affecting farmers across our great nation; hope that the Morrison government's new drought envoy knows what's happening in his own electorate; hope that the inadequacy of this government's response to the biggest crisis faced by many of our farmers in the last 20 years, and, for some, 80 years, will be actually be really addressed. Our farming communities need more than platitudes to get them through this crisis, and the member for New England's government has been sitting on its hands for the last five years while our farmers have been drowning in debt or forced off their land.

I'm sure the member for New England would have us all believe that his government is doing wonderful things for farmers and as much as it can, but I would say: it's too little, too late. Let's talk about farm household support. A recent amendment, supported by Labor, extended this payment beyond its original expiry date earlier this year. The honourable member for Hunter will tell you, in no uncertain terms, that this payment has been botched from the start. There are more questions than answers around time frames, amounts paid and the hurdles that time-poor farmers need to overcome to receive a payment that may barely scratch the surface, a payment meted out to eligible farmers as if they aren't responsible enough to receive it all at once. Seriously, they should have been given that money as a lump sum. Labor has been criticising the government for the past four years in relation to the way farmers access these types of support payments. This payment is undersubscribed, and no wonder, given that our concerns have fallen on deaf National and Liberal Party ears. This is the coalition government's flagship policy but it ignores Australia's changing climate and puts a bandaid on the suffering of drought-affected farmers—and, importantly, the communities that support them, because drought doesn't just affect the farm but affects everyone who relies on the farm.

Long-term drought reform, which was led by Labor in government, has not been progressed. The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison, ATM, government doesn't give out enough in support of our farmers. There has been no meaningful reform. Drought reform must include a suite of measures designed to bring about meaningful change and significant support for workers and their families. The member for New England, who is in the chamber, has a little wry smile and is having a bit of a chuckle about this, but it is so serious. We need this support for our agricultural sector.

I have no hesitation in echoing support for the agricultural industry. The member for New England calls for it in this motion, and I think it's vital. We need to back in our farmers and those who support and work hard with farmers. We need to keep food on the table for Australian families. I understand the sacrifices dairy farmers, for example, make—working 365 days a year to ensure the cows are brought in and milked twice a day—in providing fresh milk for our cereal. And I see the grief on the faces of our livestock farmers. I know them well. They've had to sell or destroy many of their animals, some among them fantastic breeders. But what the member for New England and the Morrison government fail to understand is that all of the recognition and praise in the world will not bring certainty to a sector that is right now staring into a policy void. (Time expired)

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In opening, can I say to those opposite: this is not a motion about the member for New England; this is a motion about something of the utmost seriousness for the people that we represent. They want to hear from us what we are doing, not personal attacks across the chamber, not the disparaging of political opponents. This is about delivering for people in their time of need, and that should be our focus 100 per cent.

The farmgate sector is worth $62.3 billion, and the overwhelming majority of that is delivered through our international trade partners. Without trade, one of the biggest impacts in this country would be on agriculture and the people we are here to speak about right now in debating this private member's motion. We have delivered for them in terms of trade. We have delivered for them in terms of further market opportunities, reducing the forward-facing crisis in Japan, South Korea and China and reducing tariffs to make agriculture more competitive. What we need to focus on for those people, who need us to focus on their needs right now, is ensuring those markets remain open. In fact, we need to open more so that when it does rain—and it will rain, as they all know—those market opportunities are there for them to make a profit. Clearly, right now it is not what is happening. That is why we are providing farm household support and doing everything we can for our farming sector in their time of need.

Can I say, as a former producer, that I've been through drought only once. It was a very short period of time, about 14 months, but it was the most horrible 14 months of my life. It was just devastating. I honestly don't know how those out there who have found themselves in that position for five, six or seven years haven't curled into a ball in the corner and thrown their hands in the air. They are the most resilient people, they're a great reflection on our nation and they are what we stand for particularly in this place, so we should do our utmost to help them.

I think there are other opportunities we can look at, particularly around feral animals. Look at the numbers, Madam Deputy Speaker. There are up to 24 million feral pigs in Australia—24 million; almost as many pigs as there are people. They are destroying our environment and in particular, on the coast, our turtles. If you look at feral horses, in Queensland there are around 200,000 of those. There are 2.3 million feral goats in Australia. There are approximately 80,000 water buffalo in the Northern Territory. I have to say that I've never seen red deer in my electorate before, but in recent weeks I actually saw one skid across the highway east of Childers. It frightened the life out of the poor driver in front of me. I have never seen them in those locations.

So there are opportunities right now for us to help people in these areas which are drought stricken and to control feral animals and to help our environment. I think that is something that we should consider not only in this place but at state and local government levels as well.

And then of course there are camels. I never thought I'd see so many feral camels, but, on the most recent trip I took into the west, there were an enormous number of them. They do have some advantages. I'm advised that they eat prickly acacia flowers. Prickly acacia is a noxious weed that is spreading through hundreds of thousands of hectares throughout Western Queensland. There is an opportunity for us around prickly acacia. I congratulate Desert Channels, the Landcare group out there who are attacking prickly acacia with modern technology. They are using drones to deliver systemic herbicide. Of course, it does need to rain for the herbicide to work. But they are out there flying drones to deliver, plant by plant, a systemic herbicide to wipe out this noxious weed. It is incredibly bad for the environment, and it continues to expand. There are opportunities there as well.

In the member for Flynn's electorate, Northern Oil, a biofuel refinery, have done trials using prickly acacia to deliver biofuel. I think that is another opportunity that we need to look at. I know there is some work being done locally. We attended the biofuel refinery in Gladstone with the member for Flynn—I think he got a front page. It was a fantastic announcement on some other work they are doing there, advancing those opportunities around biofuel.

Whilst we find ourselves in regional areas in drought, while those people in Australia find themselves in a difficult position, we should be doing everything we can, taking every opportunity, to focus on them and deliver what they require. What they need right now is our help. They need that in terms of financial assistance. They need that in terms of mental health support, and they need that in terms of opportunities for their produce when the drought is finished and done with. That is because, even when it rains, it doesn't rain grass and it doesn't rain money. It takes time for them to recover.

These are true Australians. They are a great reflection on our nation. They go through these hardships. It is cyclical, of course. They are absolutely resilient. They are some of the toughest people I know. We should continue to support them in every single possible opportunity. It's a reflection on us if we do not.

Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence Industry and Support) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak on this motion, and I support all of the sentiments in it that commend our farmers and the heavy lifting they're doing in relation to our economy. But I do take issue with any claim that the government's been giving them the actual support they need for the future.

I fully endorse a lot of the comments we've heard from speakers. The member for Cowper talked about the dairy industry doing it enormously tough. We do need to seriously get down and look at how this industry is regulated and the way Parmalat and Fonterra, the big processors, interact with our farmers. You should not be forced to take a lower price for a product you produce than it costs to produce it. This market is not working properly. I know that the member for Gilmore has raised this issue repeatedly as well. But I would say to both the member for Gilmore and the member for Cowper: you're in government, so let's get on and fix it. I'm sure you'd get a lot of bipartisan support in addressing that issue.

We've heard about invasive species. That is a critical issue, particularly bad in my patch. We've heard about the deer and the pigs—yes, we've got all of that—but also in the plant space there are serrated tussock, African lovegrass, St John's wort and particularly fireweed, down at the coast, which is a toxic weed that's very dangerous to animals. We need to put much more effort into that space. We know it costs our industry billions of dollars a year.

But the government haven't helped in so many ways. It was farmers who were coming to me in numbers at all of the country shows that I was having stalls at and who were screaming for a royal commission into banking. How long did it take people to wake up to that? Why weren't those country members of this parliament on the coalition side just forcing the government to take that issue seriously? I give credit to Senator Williams, who really fought that battle for a long time, but he was a voice in the dark in the coalition. It was farmers who were calling out for that, and they were ignoring them.

Then of course we had the gutting of the APVMA. We've lost 30 per cent of the scientists of that organisation, and it's that organisation which is going to help to deliver the science and the research that we need to come to grips with for these difficult and challenging conditions. They've been absolutely crippled by this crazy decentralisation policy.

We've also had other measures that have hurt regional Australia, and that is why we saw a 30 per cent swing in Wagga and why we saw a 30 per cent swing in Orange. It's why, while standing on the booths in Gundagai, I saw a 43 per cent swing there. They're not listening to rural and regional Australia; that's the basic take-out from what's going on out there in these results. It's happening and they're not paying attention to it.

Now, one of those examples of not paying attention is what's happening to the councils in my area. We've seen this program to support councils in drought affected areas and not one—not one!—of the six councils in my region received that assistance. We had areas classified as in intense drought in the Bega Valley and in the Monaro. It's really disgraceful that this has been allowed to happen, and I think that it goes back to that former minister politicising a lot of programs in his portfolio.

We saw the regional jobs infrastructure program, where $18 million went to Gilmore and $1 million went to Eden-Monaro. But now he's gone, and this is another reflection of where bad policy is being played out here because of the chaos, confusion and dysfunction in the coalition side. We have a new minister now, and after all the correspondence and lobbying I put in to the previous minister to address this situation we have to start again. And I've had no response to the correspondence I put to Senator McKenzie to deal with this issue of the unfair treatment of my councils. I can say that my mayors are not happy about this at all. So the other side are not listening to rural and regional New South Wales.

On this drought issue: we've talked before about climate change and the need to get to grips with this. One of the things they've really hurt our farmers with was that in killing the clean energy future package they took away the whole market dynamic behind the Carbon Farming Initiative, which was going to help our farmers to diversify income on their properties through a whole range of measures. I've had meetings with farmers in Yass, in community forums there, and in Cooma. And I've just had a meeting with beef and sheepmeat growers down in the Bega Valley. They are screaming for assistance in coming to grips with these dry conditions. I've heard members on the other side say, 'Don't lecture our farmers.' Well, I'm telling them that the farmers are happy to receive support.

The farmers in the Monaro who formed Monaro Farming Systems in the millennium drought reached out and got help from the CSIRO, which gave them a computer-modelling package to enable them to design a 50-year strategy for their properties and to help them work through these difficult cycles. But we're seeing these incredibly changed conditions. The fires in the Bega Valley have been enormously challenging, burning out pastures, and they're screaming for climate change to be dealt with seriously by this government. These are farmers saying this, so do not ignore them—start listening— (Time expired)

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with pleasure I speak on the motion moved by the member for New England.

We must continue to back our farmers and agricultural people. We must continue, because these people are the backbone of our economy. They add so much to our budget, our economy and our exports. Since 2016-17, they have contributed $62.3 billion, up 30 per cent from 2013. Exports in 2016-2017 were up $49 billion—up by 28 per cent from 2013. What we grow and what we contribute to the national economy is a giant 73 per cent of exports to our exporting countries, who appreciate the fact that we have good, clean, green products to help their nations.

Government Member:

A government member interjecting—

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, that's so important. Until the rain falls, until the crops and grasses return and until restocking takes place, we must be in there with them and alongside them. You don't realise the value of water until the well runs dry. Since I've been in parliament, since 2010, we've had three major floods in Central Queensland. However, unfortunately, we did not capture enough of that water to make it easier in these hard drought times.

Australia is renowned for floods and droughts. We must get smarter at containing some of that water that rushes down the Fitzroy River and the Burnett River, destroying houses and farmland as it rushes out to sea. And the freshwater actually damages the Great Barrier Reef. This could be alleviated, to a degree, if we could save five or 10 per cent of that water from going out to sea. We could put it in our dams, in our weirs, on farm storage. It is very important. It is a part of our government policy to do that, to have that capture of water that is wasted and does damage to our reef as it rushes out.

Dairy farmers, egg farmers—the egg industry has to pay more for its grain now. I went to a farmer in the Biloela-Goovigen area. He said that if he could get electricity prices down he would grow more lucerne. He has the paddock, the storage and the water but he can't cope with the electricity prices of pumping that water onto his lucerne crops, which he'd give to farmers who were less fortunate than him. The drought in my area is not as intense as it is in the Maranoa and areas of New South Wales—New England all the way down to Orange—and it's now into parts of Victoria. It's a widespread drought, but we will help these farmers the best we can.

We already know the measures we've taken around farm household allowances, farm management deposits, the RIC concessional loans, the Great Artesian Basin and rural financial counselling services, and water infrastructure is a must. We have money put aside in our budget to do just that—$72 million in investment and feasibility studies. We've finally got Rookwood Weir almost started; we almost have shovels in the ground. That's been a long fight with the Labor government in Queensland. I'm afraid to say, they're very much anti-dams and weirs but they have come to the party, on this occasion, and supported that dam, with 50 per cent their cost and 50 per cent federal government cost. I thank them for that. It's important that we get shovels in the ground and get that job started.

There's more paperwork to be done. That should be finalised in October. And there'll be shovels in the ground in early 2019. That cannot come quickly enough for farmers in my electorate. Droughtproofing that particular area will be of great advantage to us and will be money well spent. (Time expired)

Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for New England, thank you for bringing this debate to the House. Clearly, drought is really important but I want to talk today about policy, opportunity and investment. I particularly want to bring to the House some examples of the wonderful investment happening in my electorate of Indi. In preparing my speech today I went back to the white paper, which the member for New England, in his initial stages, developed. Thank you for doing it. I went looking for what government policy was on the drought. I have to say, I think we're left with an opportunity now to review this white paper and see what we could do if we put our minds to a comprehensive, inclusive policy about how we could think about drought.

I'll give an example. I come to this topic with a long history in agripolitics not only as a farmer myself but with Australian Women in Agriculture, and all the lobbying we did in the 1990s and then in any business working with farming women. Communities are really important to me. When I read this white paper and see what it says about communities and their role to help agricultural businesses through drought, I'm really disappointed to see the handpassing that happens. The Commonwealth recognises that state governments, local government and community organisations are best placed to identify and be responsible for local economic impacts. While that's true, I think it's of benefit if the Commonwealth provides an overarching policy that enables those community groups and local government to rise up. In this white paper an investment of $35 million was made for the drought communities program.

So, to the special envoy on drought: I'm wondering if we could go back now and have a report to parliament on how those $35 million were used? Did they really help the communities involved, to make them drought-prepared? The initial bit of work that I did, from my perspective, said no. So I think this current drought is an excellent opportunity to go back now and review this document—to see, after four-and-a-half years: how well did it prepare us? I think we could learn a lot from it.

In the second part of my talk today, I'd like to talk briefly about one of the opportunities that exists and to call on the government to think about how it might actually do what it's doing but perhaps do it better. The specific example I'd like to bring to the attention of the special envoy on drought is: what's currently happening with funding for natural resource management. Not only have we been talking about the impact of the drought on farming families and farming businesses; it has a huge impact on our communities and how they work on NRM and Landcare projects. Recently, the government put out a tender for Landcare projects, and—not only in my community of Albury-Wodonga but, I know, across wider Australia—there has been a lot of criticism about this particular way of doing it. I would ask the special envoy on drought to talk to his colleague the Minister for the Environment and see if he can sort out some of the problems with the NRM money.

At a state level, the funding level for projects that started on 1 July 2018 has been heavily cut. Regions were expecting a cut of 20 per cent. However, it has been a 37 per cent cut across New South Wales and closer to 40 per cent in Victoria. I also hear that the regions in Tassie and Queensland have missed out entirely. So funding for NRM and Landcare is a really easy way that the government can actually input money quickly and really effectively and leave a long-term legacy in our communities.

There will be projects that start on 1 July 2019. However, all the projects under NLP1 finished on 30 June 2018. This leaves a huge funding gap for this financial year. This means that staff with jobs in regions are successful with funding for stage 2 but don't have the middle bit for now and that we have to re-recruit people for 2019. So it is really poor planning on behalf of the government. There is a huge amount of opportunity that we could take now to fix up some of the problems in the system and deliver better.

My final comment to the member for New England is: could we talk about language? I'm a single woman farmer. I run my own farm. Most of the people who work in agriculture are farming businesses; they are farm families; it's very rare that there's one of me. So could we talk about 'farm family businesses' and talk about all the units of the farm family business—the production side, the business side, the family side and the caring side, and come up with policies that encompass all of us together.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member. The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the date for the next sitting.