Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Agriculture has underpinned the advancement of civilisations, allowing cultures to develop and thrive. Why? Because, when agriculture is produced en masse, it then allows those that would spend their days hunting and gathering to specialise in other industries. As a result, we see the advancement of civilisations. In my electorate, from a GDP perspective, agriculture is the largest contributor. We export to 120 countries all around the world and distribute to every capital city in this nation to put food on the table of those people in the gallery. When we were in government, we had a plan, the ag visa, to bring unskilled labour into the country to help our agricultural sector pick the product that they need to get onto the shelves. We had a plan. Recently we had a jobs summit, and there's no plan for unskilled labour to be brought into this country to help those in my electorate get the product from the paddock to the plate. We are a sophisticated industry; we've had self-driving tractors for the last 15 years. But there are products that we need to have hand-picked. We need those labour forces in our electorate to help deliver it. Those opposite don't have a plan, and you're going to continue to pay $10 for a lettuce.