STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Leader of the Nationals) (13:55): I've never seen a reaction to a trade deal like it. Yesterday the government announced that it had finalised what it called a free trade agreement between Australia and Europe. Australian farmers and industry groups have described this deal with comments like 'pretty embarrassing', 'disappointing', 'pathetic', 'unfair', 'simply appalling', 'a kick in the guts' and 'a horrendous outcome'.

It's never happened before. How has the government got to this point? Three years ago, the government did show some guts and walked away from what was a bad EU deal.

I applauded the trade minister for saying he would not sign any deal and that he would only sign a good deal. That was his promise to Australian farmers—that he would only sign a good deal. Yesterday he, Anthony Albanese and the Labor government broke that promise to Australian farmers.

They ran back to the European Union and signed exactly the same deal that was on the table three years ago, which they called a bad deal. The NFF made that point yesterday, saying there is no meaningful change from what was there three years ago. Yet this deal has been signed.

I want to highlight one aspect of how bad this deal is for Australia. The European Union subsidises its cheesemakers to the tune of $17 billion a year. The average European cheesemaker gets 30 per cent of its income from government support.

For that reason, Australian governments of both persuasions have put a $1.22 per kilogram tariff on European goods—to protect our cheese and our jobs. This government removed that tariff yesterday, and of course nothing has been done to the $17 billion subsidy that European cheesemakers get. They have thrown the Australian cheese industry to the wolves, they have deserted Australian jobs and they have allowed the European Union to do what they want.