Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question and acknowledge her very genuine interest in this particular issue. The government very strongly support our Queensland sugar growers—of course we do; that is a given—and we are very focused on making sure that there are good outcomes for the growers in that state.

I am advised that, in late 2015, Queensland passed legislation that should enable millers and canegrowers to work more constructively together to determine contracts, and the government does believe that the sugar industry should work within the context of the Queensland legislation to prove it can work in helping growers exercise their choice of marketer. Six out of the seven sugar millers, senators might be interested to know, across Queensland have demonstrated that that Queensland legislation can work, by locking in contracts with their respective mills, except for, as the senator indicated, farmers growing for Wilmar in the Burdekin, Herbert and Central Queensland regions.

We are really aware of growers' concerns in this area—the impact on them and on their financial arrangements and monetary commitments, obviously, in terms of pre-planting, and the certainty that they need for their businesses going forward.

I am also advised that negotiations for the on-supply agreement that the senator mentioned are still taking place between Wilmar and Queensland Sugar Ltd. The agreement provides the marketing arrangements for the cane supply agreements, and finalising that will enable growers to have marketing choice in their individual CSAs—but, as I indicated, those negotiations are still ongoing. We certainly support competition in the sugar industry, but we absolutely support a viable and strong future for our canegrowers in Queensland.