Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor acknowledges the work Tony Seabrook undertakes on behalf of the agriculture sector. However, Labor cannot support the motion due to the continuing controversy the AgDay award continues to deliver. Last year the inaugural AgDay award was given to Barnaby Joyce with a $40,000 cheque and an event co-sponsored by the National Farmers' Federation and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources at an event held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. This year the award was held in Sydney on a boat cruise in Sydney Harbour at $175 a head. Unlike last year's event, this year's event was not supported by the National Farmers' Federation or the agriculture department and there was no $40,000 cheque. The government is constantly telling the parliament and the Australian people that the government is standing up for those people in agriculture and that we should be engaging with those in the region, yet it's happy to support the AgDay award events in capital cities, rather than provide much-needed economic benefit to those in our regions.