Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Here in my hands I hold the names of people who want to see the Mount Gambier and District Saleyards Transformation Project become a reality. Saleyards for a region like the Limestone Coast act as a hub for economic activity. I'm not sure that those opposite understand this concept, so I'm going to make it as simple as I can: livestock is bought and sold at this facility; it's a trade centre; it's a meeting place; and it acts as the central business district for farmers, livestock agents and processors. It's an incredibly important piece of infrastructure to a regional community like the Limestone Coast, who rely so heavily on livestock production.

The Mount Gambier saleyards gross more than $150 million in sales, selling approximately 85,000 head of sheep and 65,000 head of cattle per year. Every person living in and around Mount Gambier benefits from a successful day at the saleyards in one form or another. Whether you're directly employed in agriculture or not, when you live in a region like the Limestone Coast, infrastructure that supports our farmers to do business supports the entire population. Even the South Australian premier gets it. This is what he had to say:

… the Limestone Coast has huge potential in terms of growing its economic output … The major upgrade of the saleyards could provide an increase of an estimated 20-30% of weekly fat market sales … Increased sales means more opportunities for primary producers and local businesses … Add all that up, and it means more jobs.

Sheep farmers in WA have been trying to explain basic economic concepts to Labor for some time. The Albanese Labor government can't seem to grasp the economic impacts of the live sheep ban. In fact, the Prime Minister himself seems to find the decimation of an entire industry a joke. Let's not forget about the Prime Minister's remarks during a discussion with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto concerning beef exports: 'When we had dinner, beautiful Australian beef—not the live export—we made sure it was dead.' Those comments had the Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, calling on him to apologise. Of course he didn't, but in any event it's not particularly tactful when the farming families are staring down the barrel of financial ruin thanks to the Prime Minister's decision to shut down a lawful and ethical industry.

I think it's also worth pointing out to those opposite that the chances are that the beautiful piece of meat the Prime Minister enjoyed that evening passed through a saleyard somewhere at some point. In fact, maybe it passed through more than one prior to landing on his dinner plate. Saleyards are important not only economically, as a vital part of the supply chain, but also socially. It's a bloody tough gig being a farmer: drought, disease, flood, frost, commodity price shocks, workforce issues, fuel prices, land prices, energy prices—the list goes on and on.

While farmers aren't traditionally renowned for talking about their feelings, one thing's for sure: talking to a farmer over the rails or at the saleyards can help, so much so that the BlueWren Connections study undertaken in 2022 found that saleyards are a vital tool in combating mental health issues and reducing the risks of social isolation experienced by farmers. Saleyards provide a place of wellbeing and informal counselling and mental health regulation through mateship and connection. The Mount Gambier and District Saleyards, a community owned and operated facility, has sought federal government funding to undertake these once-in-a-generation upgrades that are essential for the long-term sustainability of the facility—a facility that means so much both economically and socially, as I've already pointed out.

Now, the current infrastructure is ageing. The project has bipartisan support at a state level, with both Liberal and Labor parties pledging funding for this project prior to the last state election. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that, had Labor not scrapped the coalition's highly successful Building Better Regions Fund when round 6 applications were under consideration, this $15 million project would be well on its way to finalisation today.

Instead, we had a new fund—Growing Regions. As if to provide a kick in the guts to farmers in my electorate, this project was rejected whilst Labor retained $93.4 million of that fund, unspent.

The Australian agricultural industry is one of the most innovative and resilient in the world, but if we want to exceed $100 billion in farmgate output by 2030 we need to see a lot more federal government support. Hundreds and hundreds of people have signed this petition calling on Minister King to do the right thing with Growing Regions and fund the Mount Gambier saleyards.