Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every day, Australians are making impossible choices—choices between food, medicine and paying their rent—all while corporations like Coles and Woolworths are taking off with billions in profits. And what has the Labor government done in the face of this corporate greed? Absolutely nothing. But the Greens are forcing them to pay attention and act, by introducing a bill to make price gouging illegal. The bill will rein in corporate greed and reduce the cost of food and groceries. We are taking a stand against the unchecked greed that is fuelling the cost-of-living crisis, and we're urging the parliament to support these critical reforms. So the choice is yours, Labor. Support the Greens' bill and help everyday Australians or keep siding with the big corporations that are profiting from people's pain.

As a fifth-generation farmer from central Victoria, I was devastated to see the ABC's reporting of the cluster of Parkinson's disease cases near Ballarat and links to paraquat herbicide. Paraquat is a chemical that has been banned in 67 countries, including Europe, China and the UK, yet, instead of banning paraquat here, Australia's pesticide regulatory body produced an unpublished paper to dismiss health links—a paper that was funded by the global agriculture giant responsible for paraquat's production. The failure of the regulator to ensure farmers' safety and, instead, the choice to back the interests of megachemical corporations is a clear display of industry capture.

We join calls to ban paraquat, a chemical that continues to be used not only by farmers but on school ovals and sports grounds and by council workers. The government must ensure that Australia's pesticide regulator is truly independent and properly funded to do their job. The health of our farmers and their families is on the line, and the government must act.