Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.

Today, we saw a disgraceful and disrespectful performance from the government towards Australia's farmers. Australia's farmers came to Canberra from all over the country today. Some made the trek across the Nullarbor from Western Australia to express their concerns about government policy. Not one government member or senator was prepared to turn up out the front and meet with or talk to Australia's farmers. It's an absolute disgrace that the government weren't prepared to front up to our farmers. But worse, when we asked questions in the chamber today, the government's response was to diminish the presence of the farmers out the front—to undermine and diminish the number of farmers who came to Canberra to express their concerns and who had one point to make: would you listen to us? Not only would the government not listen to the farmers; they came into this place today during question time trying to diminish their presence. It was a shameful performance.

They talk about their Future Made in Australia policy. They talk about the work that they've done for farmers through the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. They promised the farmers that, out of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, they would get a better deal. What does that add up to for my Tasmanian farmers? For pea growers in Tasmania, a better deal from the supermarkets means a 34 per cent cut in production. Coles wants to mitigate its risk, so what does it do? It decides to buy 9,000 tonnes of peas from overseas instead of getting it grown and processed in Tasmania. It's an absolute shame on those in government who talk the big talk, but, when it comes to genuine action, it's the farmers who end up with the raw end of the stick. That's exactly what has happened to farmers in Tasmania who now have a 34 per cent reduction in their pea crop for the next summer. What happened to the better deal they were promised from the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct? That didn't last long. It's only a few weeks since that policy was announced, and yet they are already getting dudded by the supermarkets, which have decided that they would prefer to buy products from India, Vietnam, China or New Zealand than from Australian farmers.

It's no wonder that the farmers turned up out the front of this building—thousands of them in their trucks—to express their dissatisfaction with the way they are being treated by this government, and not one member of the Labor Party had the courtesy to go out and do the one thing that they asked for them to do which was: 'Please listen to us. Come and talk to us; we can help you with your policy implementation.' Not one Labor member turned up.

They come in here and talk about their Future Made in Australia policy. What does that mean for Australian farmers? Coles buys their products overseas. What does the new Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mean for Australian farmers? They were promised it would mean a better deal for farmers. Coles have already decided to buy a third of their pea crop this year from overseas. There were 26,000 tonnes of peas produced in Tasmania last year; there will be 17,000 tonnes this coming season. What a great deal for Australian farmers! The government came in here. Not only did they disrespect the farmers by not turning up; they then turned up in the chamber and diminished their presence. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's no wonder that Australian farmers are angry. They just want to be heard.

I'm sure my colleagues will talk more about the impact on the sheep farmers in Western Australia who formed a large chunk of those out there today and who have seen their entire businesses and communities destroyed. The Labor Party needs to step up and do what the farmers have asked them to do and just listen.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution on questions from those on the other side. I just want to start by painting a picture. Let's go back a few steps, shall we, to before the pandemic. I remember—I don't make a habit of this, Mr Deputy President, but it just shows you how badly bored I was that Sunday—I had Insiders on! I just wanted to clarify that I don't make a habit of watching that crap.

Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm disappointed in you!

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know, seriously. But it was on. Up popped former senator Marise Payne, who I had a lot of respect for all the years she was in here. I remember her going on about China and the start of the pandemic—I'm going to get to agriculture, make no mistake about that—and it was a real pile-on attack on China. I thought, 'Wow, that's unlike Senator Payne.' I think she might have been the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time. Coming from Western Australia, where every second person and their kids and the dog have got fluoro shirts, I thought: 'Why are we attacking our greatest trading partner? Why are we acting like President Trump's sheriff in the region with this carry-on?' I'd just returned from a delegation to China not long before that and noticed how buoyed the Chinese were to be doing business with Australian farmers, particularly around barley, wine, timber and crayfish. I'll tell you what, from that day the damage that was done to our country—our agricultural exports to China just stopped. It wasn't until 2022, when the grown-ups were put back in charge of the treasury benches, that things changed.

I'd just say don't forget that—that that side over there didn't give a damn about the damage that that was going to do to our agricultural exporters, particularly in those fields. But I'll also say this. In 2023-24, Australia exported over 70 per cent of its agriculture, fisheries and forestry production to no fewer than 169 markets globally. I can safely say that's the most diversified trade has ever been. I have to say that that's thanks to the grown-ups being put back in charge—the Albanese Labor government.

After the coalition spent nearly a decade eroding and neglecting our relationships with other trading partners as well—and there was the disgraceful mismanagement, as I said, of the relationship with our biggest trading partner—we've put the runs back on the board for our farmers and our exporters. Restoration of market access for several agricultural and forestry products contributed to a record $17.4 billion in exports to China in 2023 alone. I can also say we recorded 88 technical market access achievements in the year 2023-24, including opening 10 new markets and getting 44 improvements to existing access. There were 34 actions to maintain or restore markets which protected markets worth no less than $4.6 billion. And, for the live cattle export industry, this government ensured that over $700 million of Australian animal products could continue to be traded in the event of a lumpy skin disease incursion, through ongoing emergency animal diseases preparedness work.

Let's think about that. I remember we had not long come into government when we had the fear of FMD in Indonesia, and the prompt response of this government—and I applaud Minister Watt, as I know the industry did at the time. We talked to industry, listened to industry and implemented the systems recommended by industry.

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Those opposite didn't support it!

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're right, Senator Ciccone. They didn't, and, in fact, they took every opportunity to run scare campaigns on how our red meat and cattle industry was going to be decimated.

We've also seen the entry into force of our free trade agreements with the UK and India under this government—well done, Minister Farrell—as well as the ongoing negotiations with the UAE and the EU. We've also invested no less than $1.03 billion of long-term, sustainable funding to strengthen Australia's biosecurity system, including nearly $7 million into ensuring Australia's ready for any detection of the latest strain of avian flu.

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

Senator Sterle tried valiantly there to defend this government's record, but of course what he ignored completely—I don't think it even got a mention—was the elephant in the room, particularly in relation to Western Australia, and that is the live export trade in sheep. That has broken the relationship between the Labor government and the agricultural industry, where I have seen no issue before. That is because the justification for this policy is threadbare. It's about preferences from radical animal activist parties in inner-city seats in the eastern states in return for an entire industry out of my home state of Western Australia.

Last year I rose in this place and asked questions about the devastation of confidence that had flown through the Western Australian agricultural sector on the back of the Labor government's decision to ban live exports, and those opposite just laughed it off. But now we see it in practice. We see it in the government's own numbers—that the herd, the flock has declined in Western Australia by anywhere up to 50 per cent. Yes, there was a drought involved, and yes, there was a restocking into the eastern states. But the fact is that the lack of confidence, the banning of the live export trade, combined with that reduction in flock numbers, will mean that Labor's promise is not going to happen. You've got to remember that Labor promised to see this live export industry replaced by chilled meat exports. That's not going to happen. There aren't going to be the sheep in WA, because you have destroyed the industry. You have destroyed confidence in the industry. You have destroyed the size of the industry. Sheep numbers have declined by anywhere up to 50 per cent in two years. Lamb numbers in Western Australia are going to be down by 35 per cent this season on current estimates.

The question now is not about opening new processing facilities in WA. The question now is when the next processing facility will close down in WA, because this Labor government's policy decision has completely destroyed confidence and destroyed scale. And the people who suffer aren't just the farmers. It's the communities. It's the truckies. It's the shearers. The Labor Party, the party that was formed by striking pastoral workers and shearers in Queensland, has now turned its back on that industry. There will be no wool industry in Western Australia, as the self-replacing merino flock loses one of its key economic drivers, which is the export of the wethers from the production system. That won't come back, unless there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

That light at the end of the tunnel is that when we go to the polls—this year, maybe; probably next year—we see a Peter Dutton led Liberal coalition government that restores the trade and backs in our export partners overseas. For those who are purchasing our sheep, who have invested in their systems, who have invested in animal welfare, who have invested in taking their standards up to ours—raising their animal welfare standards up to Australian standards in order to participate in this trade—that is the light at the end of the tunnel. That is the hope for the sheep industry in my home state of WA. That is why we had truckies, shearers and farmers travel to Canberra from WA, some of whom left home three or four days ago.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's been fascinating to sit and listen to Senator Brockman and his obvious complete and utter lack of understanding of what's going on here, but I'll come to that. Let me first say that farmers are the backbone of our agricultural industry, and we do listen and engage with the industry. In response to the fanciful commentary that no-one invited went to meet with the farmers, I had a quick poll around this side of the chamber; no-one was invited. When did we see that happen before? That might have been the last time that Senator McKenzie rallied a bunch of farmers here and told them that invitations had been provided to various ministers. I also checked with those ministers. Invitations hadn't been provided. Making up stuff like this is just so ridiculous. It's so desperate.

Let me just provide a little fact for those opposite. They don't really like facts these days. They seem to have departed from that somewhat. In 2014-15, 2.1 million sheep were exported. Who was in government then? I think that was you lot. Then, in 2021-22, that number had dropped to 450,000 sheep exported. That seems like quite a significant drop under the timeframe of those opposite, the Liberal-National government. Yet Senator Brockman stands there quite cheerfully and blames all the reduction in those exports on us.

When the Libs and the Nats stand up and say that this is all shock, horror and amazement, let's just be clear. There are no surprises here. The Labor Party went to the last two elections committing to phase out live sheep exports by sea. We didn't hide it. We were very clear and very honest about what we were going to do. And, when we got into government, that's exactly what we did.

I also refer to Senator Brockman's entertaining comments that ending live sheep exports would lead to the closure of sheep processing. Where to start? Live sheep are, not to put too fine a point on it, live, right? So they're not going to the abattoirs. They're not going through processing. Live sheep that are not exported stay here and can be processed, right? So, yes, let's keep the sheep. Let's keep them in Australia. Let's process them here. Let's process them here for our market, or we can process them here and export them—because Senator Brockman seems to have misunderstood the whole idea of live sheep exports. It's not a sheep export ban; it is a live sheep export ban.

I would also draw the senator's attention—in fact, the whole chamber's attention—to the fact that there are two WA abattoirs and processors that I know of that are expanding their operations. There's an increasing sheep supply. What they're seeing as the move is happening is that there's more processing. As part of the move to not exporting live sheep by sea, they are seeing more sheep to process. So they are ramping up their businesses. They are investing in their businesses to process those sheep. In fact, one of them is adding an entire extra shift and 200 new jobs. The other one has invested $50 million in a cold storage as part of its expansion because it sees the industry growing. They see greater opportunities for them to take those sheep that are no longer going to be exported and to process them here.

But let's be clear—there's $107 million on the table and four years to make the transition. It looks like those abattoirs in Senator Brockman's home state of WA are doing pretty well. They are looking at the opportunities here and making the most of them. I would suggest that those opposite stop trying to politicise this issue and stop using the farmers for their own political pointscoring and get on board with supporting them. That transition in the industry is going to make a difference. There are going to be more jobs in WA, and there are going to be more opportunities.

Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I could spend my whole time just rebutting one senator's contribution, but I actually want to rebut the whole way Labor treated this issue during question time today. This government has today cemented its antifarming agenda. After the PM's performance at the Minerals Council last night, where he walked into a room full of miners and talked about how good transitioning and battery power would be, you can tell this government doesn't listen to the industries that keep this country going.

In reply to my first question about their anti-ag policies—about the biosecurity tax, ute tax and truckies tax—we got platitudes about how Labor care for all Australians. Well, if they care for all Australians, what about the Australians who are paying 12 per cent more on their grocery bills? They're also paying more on all of the input costs that contribute to those grocery bills. That's gas, which is up 33 per cent; that's electricity, which is up 14 per cent; and that's insurance, which is up 17 per cent. Not only are they contributing to higher grocery bills; every single Australian is facing those higher costs at home as well.

Then, when I asked why they're focusing on water buybacks rather than addressing the real environmental degradation, such as carp, I was instructed to rephrase because 'water isn't in agriculture'. Seriously? We all know that agriculture is highly dependent on water, be it through irrigation or through rainfall and climate conditions. But I rephrased. I asked why they continue to take water out of irrigated agriculture, harming our irrigation communities, because this government continues to ignore even research from the likes of the University of Adelaide, who just recently reported that negative whole-of-icon site scores for the Coorong and Lower Lakes were not only lower this year than in January-February 2022 but also at their lowest recorded health since the end of the millennium drought and the commencement of the Basin Plan. Think about that.

This government ignores the fact that irrigated agriculture is now extracting less than a third of the flows in the Murray-Darling Basin, less than the scientists decreed would be sustainable diversion limits, but this government still goes out with a chequebook to rip water out of productive agricultural use. The minister today didn't even try to address the issues of Tasmanian pea farmers or fruitgrowers around Shepparton, who have had all their contracts cut because the big supermarkets find that it is cheaper to import than to buy Australian grown produce.

So, while Senator Sterle still stands up and talks about our great agricultural export statistics, they've got to realise that our agricultural exports are growing in spite of this government, not because of this government. Senator Sterle had the hide to discuss forestry exports. That's coming from a Labor government when Labor is closing native forestry across Australia. In Victoria, they've shut native forestry. In Western Australia, they've shut native forestry. This government has to stop ignoring the facts—that its policies are leading to a decline in Australian agricultural capacity to produce. With the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, we're seeing a decline in dairy and other irrigated commodities, and it continues on and on.

Question agreed to.