Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to direct to Senator Fielding—through you, Madam Temporary Chair—a couple of questions. Are fishermen primary producers, and will they have exemptions from the luxury car tax? Would kangaroo shooters, who use these four-wheel drives because they have to, be considered primary producers—because they are, I suppose, the very basis of hunting and gathering and primary industry? If you go out into the Aboriginal communities you see that they all use four-wheel drives—the councils and the people own four-wheel drives. It is not a luxury there; it is a necessity, complete with bullbar, spotlights and all the extras that take it well over the luxury car high jump. I do not know why you would exclude Aboriginals, kangaroo shooters or fishermen—and probably the flying doctors, too; they are people who use four-wheel drives. They are very worthy people who provide great services to regional and western communities.

You see, once you try and draw a line around primary industry, there are many people excluded who are on the fringes of primary industry and maybe even primary producers, such as fishermen and kangaroo shooters. The thing that I cannot understand—and I will be listening with great interest—is how you draw the difference between the primary producer and the shearer, the guy who does the mulesing, the guy who fixes the windmill or the engines or the mechanic who goes around the properties to service them. No-one can understand this; it is not just me. No-one in this place can understand why you would want to divide a community and say, ‘You’re in and you’re out.’ But we have been through this debate, and this is the first opportunity that I have had to have you throw some light on why you would divide people from primary industry and why there would be any difference between two people who are working and living in a town or adjacent to a town. The reason they have to drive four-wheel drives is that it is a safety issue out there. It is not a luxury issue; it is a safety issue. Senator Fielding, if you can throw some light on that and answer my questions about Aboriginals, fishermen and kangaroo shooters, and give me a reason for the difference, I would really appreciate it.