Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Parkes is boom town in the Central West of New South Wales, and there are jobs, jobs and more jobs going there right at the moment, with GrainCorp. I'm so pleased that I, the Nationals and the coalition generally fought so hard to keep GrainCorp in local hands, in Australian hands, when there was the potential takeover by Archer-Daniels-Midland. We didn't want the grain price being determined by a boardroom in Illinois, in the United States of America, or anywhere else, and that's why we fought so hard to make sure that GrainCorp stayed in local hands.

At Parkes at the moment, they're adding 125,000 tonnes of storage capacity. This is what GrainCorp's doing. They are actually investing in infrastructure, and that is so important. But they need workers—180 positions in the Forbes-Parkes region, in the central west of New South Wales. But, if you look at the Riverina it is absolutely booming and blooming throughout at the moment, with canola, wheat and every other grain variety that we're growing there. In the Wyalong area, there are 200 positions with GrainCorp alone; Griffith-Barellan, 120 positions; Lockhart-Boree Creek, 130; Temora and surrounding districts, 250; and Junee, 150. So there are jobs there, and they are good, well-paying harvest jobs. Our farmers are looking at the third bumper harvest in a row, if it would just—believe it or not—stop raining so they can get their heavy harvest equipment into the paddocks. But it's boom time in the Riverina, as always.