PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr McCORMACK (Riverina) (17:11): I really like the member for Paterson. I think she's a great egg. She is co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil.
I acknowledge her work, and I acknowledge her experience in that regard. But, sadly, the Labor government took away the position of Soils Advocate in August 2023. Penny Wensley was doing a great job, and it's just one example of how Labor has let down our agriculture sector.
It's no fault of the member for Paterson. I want to place that firmly on the record. She is a good advocate.
But her colleagues and certainly the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—who knows who it was at the time—let the nation down. Mr Conaghan: Who is it now? Mr McCORMACK: 'Who is it now?' I hear the member for Cowper say.
He's quite right to ask, because the member for Franklin, who in fact it is, has probably not left Tasmania. Speaking of Tasmania, I caught a plane to Tasmania the other day. Chris Lilley was actually on the plane.
I enjoy him as a humourist. Mr Conaghan interjecting— Mr McCORMACK: He's very, very funny, Member for Cowper. It's almost comedy hour at the moment.
We've got the member for Hunter bringing in a motion— Ms Price: It's not funny. Mr McCORMACK: The member for Durack's right; it's not funny, but it 'notes that the government has been delivering for Australian farmers'. They're the first few words.
The government has not been. Let's go through the long, sad, sorry list. We look at the biosecurity tax, where our farmers are expected to pay for the biosecurity of goods coming in from overseas, competing with their products on our shelves.
We look at the truckies tax. That's an impost on our farmers. We look at the 450 gigalitres of Murray-Darling water being taken out of the system.
One of the greatest food- and fibre-producing nations on Earth is now going to have to do it with 450 gigalitres less water. This is just shameful. Where is that water going to go?
It's going to go out the mouth of the Murray. It's not going to be used for food production. It's not going to be used to grow more fibre.
When the member for Hunter said we should applaud our farmers, we should. The farmers will be okay in this instance, but it's what it does to the rest of those river communities that is bringing shame upon this government. It's the hairdresser.
It's the cafe. It's the local mechanic. It's the local school.
They all lose out because those communities get diminished. It's the green tape and it's the red tape that this government is foisting upon our poor farmers. I see that I've got my Western Australian friend here, the member for Durack.
They're banning live sheep exports. The trade has been going for decades. We've got the best animal welfare standards in the world, and it's now going to be filled by countries which do not give a jot about the sheep.
They couldn't care less about the animal welfare standards. They will fill our trade. And what does Labor do?
They put $107 million in last year's budget, the biggest item for agricultural spending, on an item to stop farmers from farming, shut down an industry that was viable and thumb their nose—to have us thumb our nose—in a diplomatic relations nightmare, at Middle Eastern countries which relied heavily on that trade. It'll be filled by cowboys. It just will be.
And sheep will suffer. They will suffer. And they will suffer on the watch of this government.
Our farmers won't be able to do what they've done successfully for decades, and the list goes on and on. This motion mentions workers. Yes, workers are important.
They don't care about the ag visa over on that side, but they did make changes to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme. They made changes to unionise the scheme. They made changes so that farmers are going to have to pay workers to sit on their backsides and do nothing, but that's the Labor way.
They're always subservient to their union masters. They're always subservient to those people who send them here, and we know— Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting— Mr McCORMACK: he who pays the piper calls the tune, member for McEwen. You know it, and every one of your Labor mates knows it.
Everyone in here knows it because you can't help but always mention the unions. It's always, 'Union this; union that,' and it's such a shame. I tell you what— Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting — Mr McCORMACK: The coalition's coming for you and your seat—don't worry about that.
But, thankfully, changes were made to the PALM scheme so that now the farmers are getting a better deal, and so are the Pacific workers who are coming here. They were losing out. They were losing out on those valuable remittances which they send back, which in some of those countries are more than half of their GDP.
So it's now better for farmers and better for the workers. The only trouble is it runs out in July. Mr Rob Mitchell interjecting— Mr McCORMACK: Don't sneer at me.
It's actually better for them. We have to work it out in July and get a better system for those Pacific workers. (Time expired)