Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

Well, there you have it. We've just heard from two senators who are both climate deniers. One of them is a senator from a party in government; the other is from a party that clings to the Liberal-Nationals coalition like a barnacle on a ship. What we've seen since the return of Mr Barnaby Joyce is chaos and dysfunction, and nothing but looking internally. We saw a disgraceful debate in this place this morning on water. We saw the Nationals cross the floor about water yesterday. They've all been out regurgitating how they don't believe in the science of climate change. I'm not interested in talking about the Nationals, but I do want to highlight the damage that the Morrison government is doing to this country by refusing to commit to targets and by refusing to put a date on when we will have a proper carbon policy.

One of the things that I as a senator do for Western Australia is actually talk to farmers. I talk to farmers; I go out and listen to what they tell me. I want to talk about a group of farmers and primary producers in Western Australia and professional and other organisations associated with primary production who are on the land and who have a view about what's happening. They came together to form a group they've called AgZero2030. These are real farmers, not pretend farmers like senators that we see in here who somehow claim to speak for farmers. These are real farmers, real primary producers, and professionals associated with primary production: AgZero2030. Look it up. They came together because of what they want to see, and these are their aims:

This is what farmers in Western Australia are saying, not the rubbish you hear from those opposite—not the rubbish you hear, sadly, from the government. Let me just repeat those last two: retain market access and retain access to capital investment. I just heard a government senator talk about 400,000 jobs that were going to be lost. Here are farmers saying, 'Actually, what we want to do, through having a target for zero carbon emissions, is retain our markets, protect our land and retain access to capital investment.' So I'm not quite sure who the Morrison government and, in particular, the Nationals claim to represent, but it's certainly not these farmers or primary producers in Western Australia. The National Farmers Federation want to see action on carbon. They want zero carbon, and they've put a date on it.

But I don't know why the Morrison government is allowing a handful of Nationals senators, who are clearly out of touch with what farmers and primary producers want, to control the agenda. We've heard the awful sorts of comments that they've made. Just recently, Mr Keith Pitt—and I heard this myself—said he didn't think the Nationals would support a net zero plan. He said he thought they'd be very 'unsupportive'. That was on Monday. I'm sure that the farmers whom I've visited in Western Australia—in the central Wheatbelt, in the Great Southern and in the Esperance area—are appalled. I know they're appalled when they hear that. They are out there working hard, as farmers do, day in, day out, looking for support from the federal government. They're looking for some hope that their land and the work they do is valued and that there will be real action on climate change. They tell me over and over again how disappointed they are. I learned from them that WA lost its barley market because of the shenanigans of the Morrison government. That's what farmers have told me. We have got farmers in Western Australia saying, 'Please, do something on climate change.' Well, it will not come from the Morrison government.