Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I will come to the provisions of the bill shortly. Before I do that, I want to say that I continue to despair at the way that this Labor government—the Gillard government—and previous Labor governments treat Indigenous people generally. They seem to me—and the Wild Rivers legislation is a classic example of this—to be saying to Indigenous people: 'You're not as good as we are. You can't operate as we operate. You need to spend your life on welfare, because you can't till your land, you can't look after yourself and you can't create industries as other Australians do.' It always distresses me that that is the case. I have recently driven 3,500 kilometres through north-west and western Queensland and through the lower Gulf of Carpentaria area and in the lower Cape York area. That theme comes through.

I want to tell the Senate about a cattle property called Delta Downs. Nine years ago I was honoured to be able to hand over the deeds and the shares in that company on behalf of the Commonwealth to the local Indigenous group and the Morr Morr Pastoral Company. This is an iconic cattle station up in the Gulf of Carpentaria next door to Karumba. Nine years ago, I was impressed by the property. It had for some time been operated by Indigenous people, although very often with non-Indigenous managers. Going back there just the other day, it was remarkable to see how this property had been improved by Indigenous people, by Indigenous managers, by people relevant to that area. It is a great example of what Indigenous people can do.

Clearly, Acting Deputy President Back—and you particularly would be aware of this—they had concerns about the stupidity of the Gillard government's live cattle ban. It affected their property, as it affected many land owners. It did not affect their property quite as much as others, because they recently bought another property down near Hughenden to which they can send cattle off for fattening. But it did have an impact on them. They and everyone else I spoke to in my travels on the roads around the gulf and lower Cape York were incensed at the way the Gillard government had overnight banned the live cattle trade. What concerned them more than just the banning of the trade was the fact that they just do not know what this government is going to do next. It has taken all confidence out of businesses that operate in those remote parts of Australia.

Debate interrupted.