Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

The government, likewise, will not be supporting the amendments moved by Senator Xenophon. Can I say, Senator Xenophon, that I do understand what you are trying to achieve. We are not actually that far apart, in truth. It is about making sure that we do set up a task force. It will effectively be me who establishes it, and I intend to ask for stakeholder input into its make-up so that I can then appoint them to the board. Whether that can occur by 31 January will depend on the passage of this legislation, the ability to be able to consult with industry and for industry to provide the input into that and then to be able to do the machinery matters.

I certainly hope that it can meet your expectation. I think it would also be the Greens' expectation that we do it as quickly as possible. We may even do it before that date. So you would actually be a drag on the system. You would be taking too long for me. Hopefully, we can move very quickly. There is a lot of work that we want them to do. You have structured it in a way that the minister appoints an independent chair. You state:

The wheat industry advisory body must consist of the following members, appointed by the Minister:

     (a) an independent Chair;

     (b) at least 9 skills-based members appointed …

I think it is a little prescriptive. What I want to ensure is that from industry consultation we can get a task force that represents industry, that can move it forward, that can do the work that we want it to do and that has the skills base.

I think we are also very close if we talk about making sure that they have a skills based membership and that they have skills from across the industry. All of that is essential for it to work and become effective. Although I understand your reasons for putting them forward, we are not too far apart in truth and in principle, and for those reasons I cannot support the amendments. I think you could confidently predict that the outcomes will look very similar.