Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Again, I thank the senator for her question. It has been a tough time, and it is good to see representatives of Victoria, like Senator McKenzie, getting around the countryside and making sure that what we are doing matches the needs of the dairy sector—so that things like the ACCC inquiry can properly feed into what is happening on the ground in Victoria and make sure we can make the appropriate policy changes, if any, here in Canberra.

But, as I said, we have great hopes for the future of the dairy industry. It is already a strong performer for us in terms of exports. Notwithstanding this difficult year, we think next year and the years beyond will be very positive for the dairy sector, not least because of the trade agreements we as a government have signed and the trade access we have got for the sector—historic agreements with China, with Japan and with Korea. China will remove all dairy tariffs from products there. There is enormous growth in these markets, enormous promise for our dairy sector, and we will have a brighter future once past this very difficult year for the sector.