Annette Hurley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to support the Farm Household Support Amendment Bill 2007. The agricultural sector in Australia is certainly fundamental to our economic wellbeing as well as to our sense of identity and way of life. It is also increasingly important in our guardianship of the environment and deserves support.

Our own state of South Australia, Mr Acting Deputy President Ferguson, is a major producer of agricultural commodities. Its markets are worth $672 million in grapes, $522 million in wheat and $306 million in barley. As well, the fisheries in South Australia contribute significantly, in my view far exceeding their importance in dollar figures. As well as being vital agricultural industries in their own right, these industries are part of the broader regional sector. Unfortunately, in South Australia this is relatively small and we feel the need to nurture it to some extent.

The nature of our produce, particularly that of the wine and seafood industries, provides a focus for tourism in the area as well as supporting many environmental programs and providing an important part of the social fabric of our state. Incidentally, it is also a significant employer of scientific talent. My first job was at an agricultural research centre looking at calf DNA and it probably gave me my first interest in the agricultural sector—although I did grow up in Mount Gambier. My father was one of those small business people whom this kind of bill might have assisted.

So I am well aware of the importance of the full range of businesses in country areas. I know that if the shops, the mechanics, the truck drivers or the fencing contractors are not getting business then that jeopardises all kinds of other services in country towns. Unfortunately, we have already seen many closures of banks, schools and government agencies in country areas. I do not think any of us would want to see the drought impact further on those. As Senator Sandy Macdonald said, all farmers would acknowledge that the services and products of small businesses in regional areas are absolutely critical to the continuation of the contribution that agricultural services make to our earnings and to the social life of our state. Certainly, they are a major contributor to export earnings, and, given our current balance of trade figures, it is very important to facilitate and nurture our exports.

It is often not well understood by some in city areas that in many aspects the cost of living in country areas can be well in excess of costs for town dwellers. Distance can cause high costs for the basics of life such as food and housing. People often think that rural areas have cheap housing, but because of the distance factor housing is often quite expensive in country areas, particularly where there has been an influx of workers, as in the south-east of South Australia: housing is very difficult to find and very expensive for the workers, and this has a great impact on them. Education costs for families can also be very high because children have to be transported long distances or, indeed, need to board in cities to further their education.

Incomes tightening in drought situations can make it very difficult for families to get by. It can be the case that when a large sector of the community—the farmers in the areas—spend less because of the impacts of drought then small businesses in those country towns and those who provide services to the farmers are the first to feel the impacts of that. I am pleased to see that this bill goes some way to redressing that situation and I am pleased that the government has recognised that, in a prolonged drought such as this, small businesses need support as well as farming families.

I support the bill in that it deals with an immediate problem. Like Senator Siewert, I think that the government needs to look at longer term issues as well. The Australian Treasury submission to the Agriculture and Food Policy Reference Group said that the current sound basic framework of the primary industries sector is due to three factors: the floating of the exchange rate, industrial relations reforms and competition policies. The industrial relations reforms that they are talking about are the reforms that began under the Hawke government, not the recent Work Choices reforms. They were all reforms continued under the Keating Labor government. A lot of those basic factors were in place under a Labor government. While the current Liberal government has managed the economy adequately over the last 10 years, I wanted to recognise that a lot of the building blocks for that were put in place by the former Labor government.

The critical point is that the Australian Treasury submission pointed particularly to productivity growth being required to allow the agricultural sector to continue to have that sound underpinning, to grow in the future and to deal with the challenges that are thrown up to it—whether it be drought, market factors or whatever else. It is a cliche, but I think there is a lot of truth in this: rural industries in Australia lead the world in innovation and self-reliance. They do not get a lot of government support, and they will not under plans to free up trade and to reduce barriers to trade. But they need some assistance from the government—the tools to help themselves and to increase productivity in the sector.

Most people in the agricultural sector that I have talked to talk about adequate infrastructure as being absolutely essential. This is so-called hard infrastructure, like roads, rail and ports, and also a bit of infrastructure that the Labor opposition has been talking about quite a lot recently—that is, information technology and broadband infrastructure. It has been discussed in general terms, but it is as important for the rural sector as it is for anyone else to have access to good broadband infrastructure in order to advance. I am sure that many people all around the states—but certainly in South Australia, where I am getting around to visit some of the primary industries—have been very impressed by the ability of many farmers to take up new technologies and use them to improve their productivity and to deal directly with their clients and their markets.

Where broadband is available, farmers are able to access the latest technology in satellite imaging and in weather forecasting. They are also able to deal directly with their markets; they are able to access information about markets and market conditions; they are able to speak and deal directly with their clients. This is not only farmers; in a lot of the country towns where the local market is very small, many of the small manufacturing businesses we have been talking about, and indeed service businesses, survive only by having access to broadband so that they can sell their products and services to a wider market, whether it is in Australia or overseas, which often occurs. I have been very impressed by the entrepreneurship of many small businesses in regional areas that have a thriving business selling directly overseas in all kinds of niche markets.

Good broadband, as for business anywhere else, is obviously good for both the rural sector and interregional business. That is what the Labor Party is talking about—putting government money in conjunction with private industries to leverage up the amount of money available to ensure that broadband infrastructure is rolled around this nation comprehensively.

It is this kind of long-term thinking that we need to address along with the changes that are outlined in this bill, which go to the immediate solutions to the problem. I am sure that the government are hearing from various groups in the agricultural sector that are crying out for ways to address long-term issues, and productivity is certainly one of the essential elements here, and infrastructure is part of that. It is a bit disappointing that there has not been more of a national approach to infrastructure issues. While commending the government for providing some assistance both to farmers and to small business, I urge them to now turn their attention to some of these long-term issues that so dramatically affect the agricultural sector in Australia and in my state of South Australia in particular.