Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President, and congratulations on the new role. I rise to take note of the answers from Senator Watt—surprise, surprise! I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Watt) to questions without notice asked today by Opposition senators relating to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Indonesia.

The government hasn't been in power long—obviously the minister hasn't been in power very long—and it faces a huge challenge to the agricultural sector. It's probably one of the most significant threats to the agricultural sector that we have seen in this country for a very, very long time, and the response so far has been wanting. It's been confused, it's been weak and it's been untimely. We have seen a government that has not reacted in the way that the agricultural sector of Australia, particularly the agricultural sector of my home state of Western Australia, would want a government to react.

We've heard some comments recently from the state Labor agriculture minister in Western Australia. Here were her comments in the West Australian from just a few days ago:

I know this isn't the line that newspapers want to hear but we've got to keep this in perspective …

The most serious threat to Australian agriculture in, probably, my lifetime, and we have to keep it in perspective?

We're not going to see … our cattle industry decimated.

This is from a state Labor agriculture minister.

We will still have a domestic industry.

She said that meat and milk might actually become cheaper!

This is what the state Labor minister said! And she said:

It's not going to stop milk or meat being available to us. And some people might argue it might actually make it cheaper because there'll be more of it available domestically.

This is what a state Labor minister said! And this is someone that this minister, Minister Watt, is relying upon to work with. In fact, he stated today that it was the states who have the principal responsibility in this area—'the states have the principal responsibility'. He's washing his hands of responsibility; he's giving the responsibility to the states. And what have we heard from the state Labor minister in Western Australia? That it's not going to decimate the cattle industry—in fact, it might actually make milk and meat cheaper!

Now, she's repudiated these words—as she should have. She's been repudiated by her state premier—as she should have. She should have been repudiated—as she should be repudiated by all, including all in this place. I stand right beside my good friend the member for O'Connor in the other place, Rick Wilson, who called for her resignation. And she should absolutely resign.

Walking away from these statements from an agriculture minister is not enough. It is not enough to say that foot-and-mouth disease won't decimate our industry and then to just apologise and carry on.

This is an industry that is so fundamental to the agricultural sector of my home state of Western Australia. It's so fundamental to the agricultural sector of the entirety of Australia. It's fundamental to our economy. Foot-and-mouth, it has been estimated, could cost our economy $80 billion over 10 years—$80 billion! It would decimate our trade if it were found in this country—decimate our trade across the globe. It would severely damage our major export industries, like the dairy industry of Victoria, and, obviously, the north of Australia, particularly Queensland, which exports so much meat. It would decimate our sheep industry.

And yet we have Labor ministers—Labor ministers of the Crown—saying: 'Oh, it's not to be worried about. It might make meat and milk cheaper'! This is an absolute disgrace! The Labor minister in Western Australia should resign. She should resign immediately.

We need ministers who will actually stand up for agriculture. We need ministers who will stand up for agriculture in this place. And, sadly, in the effort we've seen today from the current minister, we do not have that. We have a weak, ineffectual minister, who is reacting, and reacting slowly, to an existential crisis for our livestock industries.