Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management. Will the minister outline to the House the importance of agriculture to jobs and the economy, and how the Morrison-McCormack government is supporting the future of farming in Australia?

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cowper for his question and I acknowledge the rich history that the Cowper electorate has in contributing to our agricultural sector, particularly through beef and dairy, but also the important agricultural sector that underpins a lot of our economy, a contribution of 2.2 per cent of our GDP. We've signed up proudly to reaching an agricultural output goal of $100 billion by 2030, working with the industry and understanding the challenges we face. We've faced many of the challenges. In fact, the electorate of Cowper has faced up to many of those challenges, both through drought and fire. And, proudly, this government, where those disasters have intersected, hasn't skimped. We've made sure that we've contributed not only to those communities through our recovery through the fire programs but also through the drought with over $2 billion in addition to the here and now payments, which are giving dignity and respect to those people who lost it all and those who have been impacted, to make sure that they have the essentials of life. Now we're making sure that they can recover, with $75,000 grants to be able to rebuild. We've also partnered with the states and say we're going to do the clean-up for them. We're going to take that burden off them and take that away so that insurance companies can put more into the rebuilding. That's an investment in their future.

Then, with the drought, understanding the importance of the recovery will take some time, because we have had some rain. Proudly, we have had some rain. But one rain event does not break this drought. While it's pleasing to see that we've now got tractors and planners moving and we've got people buying stock—the psychology of regional and rural Australia has changed on a dime from rain—more rain will continue to drive the agricultural sector. That's why it's important that our programs look not only to the recovery just here and now—supporting those families that are doing it tough through drought—but also to the future in reaching that $100 billion goal.

We've now made sure that the Regional Investment Corporation will give working capital. Working capital will allow them up to $2 million to be able to replant and restock, because we understand that it takes time to grow a crop, to harvest it and to get the cash flow in the bank account; or to be able to grow the progeny, to be able to sell them at market, to rebuild your cash flow and to rebuild your business, to rebuild regional and rural Australia.

We've done that with the trade agreements. We're putting the environment around them with our trade agreements to allow them to be able to access markets around the world. Now, with the Indonesian Pacific agreement, the TPP, Peru, China, Japan and Korea, we are empowering the agricultural sector to recover—to not just survive this drought but thrive after it. These are the actions of a responsible government: understanding how regional economies work and understanding that this investment is not just in agriculture; more importantly, it's in its people. Its people, its human capital, is the most precious resource the Australian agricultural sector has, and this is an investment and a down payment in them and this country.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll just say to those members who were holding up bits of paper at the end, it's a sure way to be ejected under standing order 94(a). I say to the member for Chifley, it also, coincidently, for some reason, makes me fail to recognise them when they jump at various times!