Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, how disappointing to see such an important issue as modern slavery being picked up by the Labor Party and absolutely being made up of political point-scoring. It once again demonstrates the lack of understanding that Labor has for how to get things done. In this case it is how to take a very practical piece of legislation, which has, as its base, an advisory group that will complement the existing consultative forums, such as the National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery, which was established 12 years ago, in 2008. The round table comprises 12 civil society and NGO groups and only one business organisation, I have to point out, and one union. Yet there is this complete lack of understanding of how the advisory group will provide information back to business and government on the implementation of these important initiatives and reforms. I am also very concerned that Senator Keneally has talked about people in Australia working in modern slavery. I'm sure that if she has knowledge of such circumstances she would be bringing that to the attention of the authorities.

I want to talk particularly about the great work that has been done in the agricultural sector. Most recently, it is Growcom who has put together the Fair Farms initiative. Fair Farms is an industry led initiative. It's aimed at fostering fair and responsible employment practices in Australian horticulture, and that's the kind of practical and useful initiative that ensures that workers are being paid properly and fairly. I want to expand on that to say how pleased I am that Coles has picked up that initiative and has worked in partnership with Growcom to pick up the Fair Farms certification. It's a terrific initiative from very practical people, ensuring practical outcomes.

I imagine that the reason Coles has done that is because of their ethical supply chain and their ethical-sourcing policies, which they have gone to great lengths to put on their website—as have Woolworths and ALDI. It is unfortunate, though, that they can't—

Senator Keneally interjecting—

I'm sorry was Senator Keneally saying something to me? I couldn't hear it. Sorry, I've just lost my train of thought! It is an important initiative to ensure ethical supply sourcing, which ensures that businesses are paid adequately, that their workforces are paid properly and that there is a little bit of something left in it for the business. It is unfortunate that Coles, Woolworths and ALDI don't apply to dairy and to dairy farmers the same practice of ethical sourcing that they're now putting across through Growcom and the Fair Farms certification. They're being paid less than the cost of production and being robbed blind of a fair price by these big supermarkets, who are putting downward pressure on prices through the milk and dairy processors, ensuring that dairy farmers are at the very bottom of unfair negotiating practices. Indeed, I was horrified to hear again this week that Lactalis, the Queensland based milk processor, is trying to introduce a new clause into milk contracts, saying that any dairy farmers who then do media on their contracts would not have their milk picked up. What an outrageous threat to make to these hardworking Australians, who have a very short shelf life for their milk.

So it is important that we continue to work hard on ensuring that we don't have modern slavery in this country. The advisory group is a terrific initiative that will provide feedback to government about businesses' responses to modern slavery. Thank you for raising this matter.