Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. I was just discussing the Coles and Woolworths duopoly and what is going on with Coles at the moment. What we should be debating in here this afternoon is how we can get an answer out of Coles. They are saying on the one hand that they are going to reduce the price of certain lines of fruit and vegetables by 50 per cent and they are saying that that will not have a long-term impact on farmers. In fact, they are saying that they are doing a great thing by the farmers by taking their surplus product. However, what is going on is that they have clearly negotiated a lower price with the farmers without guaranteeing a volume in return that they will take or a period of time over which they will take any particular volume. What is to say that farmers have not signed onto a low price in a time of glut, if you like, around the country and then will be forced to take lower prices into the long term?

Furthermore, while Coles will deny it, it is very clear that Coles will not be suffering a margin drop in its profits. It will spread the loss across the supermarket to make sure that it is not out of pocket, but the farmers will be pushed to a lower level of return at the farm gate. At some point farmers have to decide whether it is worth continuing in the business of farming, and that is why we are suffering in Australia at the moment. With the average age of farmers increasing, younger people are deciding that they are not going to go on the land because they have watched their families struggle all these years for less and less of a return. That is the kind of debate we should be having in here this afternoon, and we should be taking on this duopoly. We should be looking at it.

On Australia Day I was sickened to see big Australian flags over the tops of canned products in supermarkets. The assumption of the consumer is that if you buy this product then you are supporting something Australian, but we do not know that. The labelling laws in this country would allow the supermarkets to import vegetables from overseas by the container load, put them in those cans, stick an Australian flag on the front of the can and then lead consumers to believe that they are somehow supporting Australian farmers. That goes to the heart of the issue of trade, which is another issue we should be debating in here. We do not have fair trade under the current arrangements that have been entered into.

Opposition senators interjecting—

The coalition members are interjecting but they are the ones who oversaw the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement. The former Minister for Trade Mark Vaile ran around the country telling people in rural Australia that there would be hundreds of thousands of jobs created in Australia because of the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. It was a sell-out, and the Productivity Commission has now pointed out that the claims were wildly exaggerated and that the benefits have not ensued as a result of that agreement.

Now the US is coming back with the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, which is being negotiated as I speak. The whole Australian community has no clue what the Americans will ask for under this Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement because the US is insisting that the negotiating documents are kept secret for four years after it is negotiated. That is not on. I understand from leaks that have been made in other countries that are in these negotiations that the US is coming back with big pharmaceuticals to try to extend the patent period so that the generic medicines cannot be made sooner. The result will be more expensive medicines for people in Australia and in developing countries. Equally, Monsanto is coming into that agreement wanting to overturn any restrict­ions on GMOs. We have a moratorium in Tasmania and we do not allow it there, but Monsanto will be coming back to try to overturn that. We also have proposed changes to copyright. They are trying to get rid of Australian content in the Australian media and communication rules. We have an issue here that warrants a debate.

We have been asking the government to come clean and tell the Australian people what they are negotiating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. What are they going to sell and give up? What are they about to trade away under an agreement where there is no indication at all that this is anything more than a big geopolitical move to suit the United States, rather than offering any benefit to this country? That is what we should be debating. We should be looking at the broader issues; and, frankly, the Abbott opposition is not up to it.