Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

Their shameful legacy on biosecurity was ignoring demands from farmers for sustainable biosecurity funding. They did absolutely nothing to make importers pay their fair share, for almost a decade. We have worked on trying to find the balance, to find that sustainable biosecurity funding model going forward. We accept that this bill will not be part of that solution.

But we are not going to be lectured on biosecurity by the National Party. They cut it, they didn't invest in it and they left our farmers vulnerable. Not only did they do that for farmers; they also trashed our international relationships to the point that our farmers lost all of that business with our biggest trading partner, China. Under this government, $20 billion in trade has resumed. That is how much we value farmers. That is how much we value the relationships, and that is how much we will advocate on their behalf. We won't take lectures from Senator McKenzie on any of that, because they left it in absolute crisis and disarray. Minister Watt came in and had to fix it, and the ERC had to find resources to deliver the security that our farmers deserve and our community deserves.

We will not support this suspension. We do not believe in Senator McKenzie grandstanding in opposition when she was unable to do anything in government. That is the problem here.