ADJOURNMENT

Mr CONAGHAN (Cowper) (19:50): I'd like to take the opportunity to speak on behalf of our wonderful agricultural sector, those hardworking Australians that clothe and feed us. I feel compelled to do this because this Labor government seems intent on disregarding their needs and in some cases actively punishing them, too often for the sake of ideology. Unfortunately, our farming communities have come to fear impending decisions from this government, and the fear is garnered from real, lived experience.

After all, this is the same government that put forward the failed biosecurity levy and, more recently, attempted to tax unrealised capital gains. It's the same government that appears intent on destroying prime agricultural land for the sake of the renewables-only ideology. For those who have forgotten, this Labor government attempted to charge Australian farmers a levy for the unregulated practices of foreign producers.

It is not our local agricultural industry that poses the biosecurity risk in this country. The risk comes from overseas, and we made that point over and over. Why would any government even consider punishing local producers for the risks posed by imports from other countries?

This insane proposed tax was so off base that the President of the National Farmers' Federation was forced to publicly state: We're shocked to say the least that they'd ignore the unanimous voices of farmers, importers and policy experts. If they aren't listening to this broad church of voices who are they listening to? Thankfully, that legislation didn't manage to pass, due to common sense in this place.

Not to be deterred, the Labor government then attempted to charge Australian farmers who held their properties in self-managed super funds a tax on unrealised capital gains. That was a very real tax on imaginary profits—a bill for something that hadn't actually been received. This disastrous tax had the potential to force some of our farming communities to sell their farms to pay the debt.

How does that make any sense? Thankfully, we on this side of the floor opposed the bill for those very good reasons, and the Australian public echoed our cries, reversing that decision. But wait—there's more.

This time it's the very real and very immediate threat provided by Labor's reckless renewables rollout. Around the country, we are watching farming communities being torn apart by unscrupulous renewable energy operators and government overreach. When you are literally being run out of town by tractors, it's probably time to reassess that decision.

And it's completely understandable that our farming communities are a little paranoid when it comes to the motives of this government. If you want to look at it through that lens, I was recently invited to attend a meeting in Coffs Harbour with the local banana growers, who are fearful that this government is even entertaining the idea of allowing imports of bananas from the Philippines, of all places.

Australia produces some of the highest-quality fruit in the world, and Australians eat around five million bananas a day. The current value of domestic banana production is $846 million, equating to nearly 400,000 tonnes, and the industry provides more than 18,000 full-time and part-time jobs. In a bizarre move, the Labor government has agreed to investigate the viability of banana imports into Australia from the Philippines.

Not only is this a biosecurity risk but it's a risk to our domestic market, allowing a foreign country to flood our supermarket shelves with cheap fruit and drive out our local producers. I am calling on the Labor government to stop finding ways to punish our farmers and start actively protecting them. Looking out for Australians is what you were elected to do, and it's time to start doing it.