Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is bullying, and it's not fair on the farmers here. You are going through this issue now, and, I tell you what, the people of Australia feel the coalition government are not supporting them enough, as far as the drought goes. You've brought in all these measures; you're going to give them all this money—and the paperwork—and it's going to take months and months before they get any assistance from the government. Do you really understand what is happening in this country? I don't think you do. The people are sick and tired of your same old rhetoric. I'm sick and tired of the procrastination that happens in this chamber. We are all given our wages, but these people have to fight tooth and nail to be able to get a fair go. That's all they want—a fair go.

Since this industry was deregulated in 2000, it's done nothing but go downhill all the way. It's gone downhill because of your free trade agreements and because you believe in deregulation. It hasn't helped. Surely you can see that. You can see what's happened to our industry here: it hasn't helped the dairy farmer. These communities are shutting down. Dairy farmers put a lot of money into these small towns and these communities. If you destroy that, you're going to shut down a lot of communities, and you are going to shut down jobs and—what's important to me—a way of life. That's what we still have in Australia. It's about a way of life. It's got nothing to do with how much money they make. This attitude that the government have is: 'Get big or get out.' It's not about getting big or getting out; it's about a way of life. These people have been in it for generations. They want to be on the land. It's their right to be on the land, whether they make a million dollars a year or whether they make a few dollars just to put a roof over their head and feed their family. That is their choice. Well, it was until governments—not me, because I wasn't a part of this—ruined this nation with the policies that they've brought in. They have destroyed the Australian way of life and standard of living. This is because of government policies—both state and federal—that have changed over the years.

If you've got the guts, get out the front this morning and go and meet with the farmers—if you're prepared to go and meet them. That's another issue: to deal with the water. But this is where we need to actually debate this whole issue. Let's put it up on the floor of parliament today. Let's put it to the vote and let's see how you vote on it. Let's see if you're prepared to stand up and back the people in your own constituency as far as the dairy industry goes.

Senator Rennick interjecting—

Senator Rennick wants to keep having a go at me. I don't think he really understands. Senator Rennick, fair enough, says he's from the land and he understands what it is to be on the land. But if he votes against this dairy bill, without pure common sense and without explaining why it needs to be voted against, then he doesn't have an argument. He's just like the rest of the sheep following the party line—you put up your hand when you're told to put up your hand. That's exactly why I find a lot of people don't have the bloody guts to stand up for what they truly believe in this place—because they won't get preselection next time around. Well, isn't it a shame. I tell you what, whether I get elected at the next election or not, at least I will be able to look back and think that I stood up for principle, I stood up for what I believed in, and I wasn't dictated to by anyone on anything. I will know that the people will judge me. If I go against my conscience and what I truly believe in fighting for the people out there on certain issues, then I will be judging myself for the rest of my life because I didn't stand up for what I truly believed in. It is a shame that other people don't do the same. I can speak from my experience talking to other former members of parliament who regret that they never had the guts to stand up for what they truly believed in.

If you understand what this place is about, you understand that people out there are watching us: how we vote, what we say, and how we react. And our actions speak louder than words. They're depending on us to make the right decisions for their future and for their wellbeing and for the future of this nation. You know what the talk is at the moment? They're sick and tired of seeing the Chinese have so much influence on our nation, whether it's in parliament, industries, social media or education—everything. And yet I don't see that you're really standing up to fight against it. And that's what the people see.

Our actions will speak for themselves, and the people will judge us. So I'm asking you: let the debate on this bill go through. Then we'll have a vote at the end of it and let the people know that we do support them. I hope this bill gets up so we can give them a bit of hope that we are really listening to them. That's what the people want: they need hope that we really care. I would ask you a question if you want to get up, Senator Rennick, and oppose this. I will say it to you then: what have you got to win by opposing giving a fair farmgate price for the milk, or what have they got to lose? What is it? If you deny a fair farmgate price for the milk, what on earth are you going to win by it? Who are going to be the losers out of this?

At the moment, we haven't got a fair farmgate price. At the moment, we are losing people out there. Suicides are happening. People are losing their properties, their homes. It's a pity. If you were wearing their shoes, what would you do? What would you beg? What would you ask of the people trying to make the decisions for you? Isn't it about giving them a fair price for their milk? Isn't that what it's about—to ensure that we have milk on our shelves? Are you going to be quite happy with powdered milk?

The fact is that the dairy industry is going to be bought up by the Chinese, because, as people walk away, foreign interests are buying it up. They're going to go from paddock to plate. There's nothing in the legislation that says that these companies have to keep their milk here in Australia. Van Diemen's Land are exporting two planeloads of milk a week to China, getting $9 a litre for their milk. There's nothing to say that we have to force them to keep the food here in Australia. It's all about food security. That is why it is important that we look at the future of this nation and its food security.

I thank the Labor Party for supporting me on the dairy bill in the past, and I thank the Greens for their support for the dairy industry. They get it. It is the coalition who have turned their back on it, and it's been mostly the National Party who have turned their back on the farming sector and the dairy industry in Australia. They get up and say: 'But she's stolen our policies. This was our policy. It's on our wish list, but we won't do anything about it.' That's exactly it: they haven't done anything about it. Then they say, 'But we got the code of conduct up on the sugar industry.' BS! They did not. It was because I pushed the issue that we got the code of conduct up on the sugar industry. In a matter of five hours, you could get it up and have a code of conduct. Why has it taken weeks to get the code of conduct up on the dairy industry, when you know damn well you've changed it around to assist the processors? For processors, it says, 'If they come under financial strain or legislation is changed, they shouldn't lose any profits whatsoever.' Where is that in the contract for the farmers? Nowhere. There is absolutely nothing. So don't tell me you are looking after the dairy farmers. This has all been set up for McKenzie because her state, Victoria—