Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Furner for his second supplementary question. Australia needs to be an active participant in the WTO and not simply close the shutters between Australia and the rest of the world. It is clear that the biggest risk to Australia's agricultural trading relations is the Liberal-National party coalition. There is nothing more that the self-professed weathervane will not sell, including Australia's farmers and industry. Nowhere is this more starkly apparent than with the palm oil issue. The position of the opposition on this matter would see $150 million in compliance costs on industry. This cost is borne by industry and it would be to the benefit of only Mr Abbott's cheap political stunt. That would add to the regulatory burden of the industry. For Australian farmers, growers and producers, the most troubling aspect of the opposition's position is that, if passed, it could be—