John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 1412 standing in my name, by omitting '1,486 cotton farms' from subparagraph (a)(ii), and substituting '1,436 cotton farms'.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the cotton industry is a largely family-owned and operated industry,

  (ii) Cotton Australia states that, in 2017-18, there were 1,436 cotton farms in Australia, and 947, or 66%, are in New South Wales,

  (iii) in 2017-18, more than 90% of cotton was exported with a value of $2.1 billion,

  (iv) in 2017-18, cotton accounted for 5% of the gross value of agricultural production, or $2.8 billion, and is Australia's sixth largest agricultural export,

  (v) the cotton industry helps to support more than 150 rural communities, and

  (vi) Australian cotton maintains a global reputation for very high quality; and

(b) supports Australian cotton farmers and the cotton industry as a whole.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor supports Australian cotton growers and acknowledges the importance of the cotton industry both to the Australian economy and to all those who rely upon it for their livelihoods. However, it must also be acknowledged that recently the cotton industry has been the focus of media reports regarding allegations of misuse of water from the Murray-Darling Basin. It is important for the success of our future farming industries that the purpose of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which was designed to restore the health of the river system, is maintained. The primary objective of government water policy must be to ensure environmental flows are restored and maintained. From there, it is for the market to determine where the water is allocated. As a high-value crop, cotton is well placed in this regard.

Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Centre Alliance has no beef with hardworking cotton farmers. However, we know that the Murray-Darling system is in crisis. We know that there's an overallocation of water, that the climate change science that backs the plan is flawed and that there are risks associated with the supply, constraints and efficiency measures and those risks are high. Yet we have ministers, both state and federal, and organisations such as Cotton Australia and the National Irrigators Council in denial about this. They want to maintain the status quo. They think the plan is the end, not the means to an end. Centre Alliance has moved a bill to ban the export of cotton. That's not an unusual thing. We banned the export of uranium. We are considering banning the export of live sheep. Changes are needed to the plan. Noting the resistance and difficulty in changing the plan, it is good for the federal parliament to have an option, albeit unpalatable, to save the river in the face of abstinence from vested interests.

Question agreed to.